The Murder of Manchu Families

After the three thousand cavalrymen charged into the palace, they saw countless plumes of black smoke, indicating that the palace had already caught fire, especially the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which was engulfed in flames.

Galdan knew the Manchus' attitude; they never considered themselves as part of the Chinese nation and always governed the country as invaders.

Now that the situation is settled, even destroying the imperial city wouldn't save anything, which is why Galdan rushed here immediately, but unfortunately, he was still a little too late.

"Everyone, proceed with the main flag, kill all resisters, and at the same time organize the palace maids and eunuchs to put out the fire!"

"But remember, you are not allowed to touch anything. I will reward you handsomely later!"

Following Galdan's order, the three thousand-strong army was divided into dozens of groups, each consisting of fifty riders, and began galloping through the imperial city to carry out a bloodbath and put out the fire.

Galdan himself, along with five hundred personal guards, immediately began to extinguish the fire in the Taihe Hall. Fortunately, it was the transition from winter to spring, and the fire was still under control.

Nevertheless, the Hall of Supreme Harmony will be unusable for a short period of time, requiring at least one or two months of repairs by craftsmen.

The only good news was that most of the official documents and local memorials were preserved.

Galdan led Liu Xin step by step into the main hall. The surrounding area was charred black, with only the emperor's dragon throne and the steps of the emperor remaining intact.

Perhaps this is the will of Heaven.

Not long after, Li Guangdi and Zhou Peigong arrived. After exchanging a glance, Li Guangdi stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, please order the pursuit of Kangxi. We must not allow them to escape beyond the Great Wall!"

"The Eight Banners in Liaodong are fully established, and with the addition of the Khorchin Mongols, they can join forces with Wu Sangui to launch a pincer attack on our Han Dynasty."

"Therefore, we absolutely cannot let Kangxi escape to Liaodong. Even if we cannot catch him, we cannot let him take his Eight Banners families with him, otherwise he will become a major threat!"

After a moment of contemplation, Galdan realized that this was indeed the case, and immediately gave the order.

"Li Guangdi, you continue to organize the people to clean up the capital, and take inventory of all people, gold, silver, grain, and weapons!"

"Zhou Peigong, compile a list of civil officials and Green Standard Army generals from Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi. Win them over as quickly as possible; use whatever they need!"

"As for me, I will personally hunt down and kill Kangxi!"

Galdan's arrangement can be seen as tailored to different people. Li Guangdi is a capable administrator, while Zhou Peigong is insightful and best suited to consolidate local power.

Galdan went directly to Andingmen, where there was still a lot of horse manure. He squeezed it with his hand and it was still soft, indicating that the Eight Banners families had left in less than two hours.

Not long after, Subutai, who was in the city, gathered 20,000 iron cavalry, and Liu Weiqing's 10,000 light cavalry arrived.

"Your Majesty, the 30,000 cavalrymen, each with two horses, are carrying three days' worth of rations and enough gunpowder!"

Upon hearing Subutai's report, Galdan stopped dawdling and charged northeast with a flick of his whip.

At that time, Rehe had not yet been established, and that area was still Mongolian territory. Kangxi did not have his main force by his side, so he certainly dared not go there. The only way was through Shanhaiguan.

One person riding two horses is extremely fast.

After dismounting and resting for an hour or two, they rode off again to catch up, and finally saw the Eight Banners families stretching for more than ten miles east of Xianghe County.

"Your Majesty, this Manchu savage emperor is really good at running away. Should we launch a surprise attack now?"

As a nobleman of the Dzungar Mongols, Liu Weiqing always looked down on the Manchus, considering them to be uncivilized savages from Changbai Mountain, and his words were full of disdain!

Subutai nodded to the side.

With 30,000 cavalrymen, a migrating force that barely had any cavalry to fight, what was there to hesitate about? Galdan drew his scimitar and paced back and forth in front of the army.

"Warriors of the Han Dynasty, raise your sabers and follow me to cleave those filthy Manchus in two! Let their heads wash away our humiliation!"

"Split into three groups and charge!"

Subutai was an extreme warmonger. After receiving the military order, he led 10,000 elite cavalrymen and charged out almost immediately, aiming directly at Kangxi's banner.

Liu Weiqing led 10,000 light cavalry to charge towards the Eight Banners families. Even though these 10,000 light cavalry were now armored, they did not have much combat power.

The best way is to bully these Manchu families.

Several hundred cavalrymen formed a large group, and when these twenty thousand cavalrymen charged, they appeared as an overwhelming black shadow from the sky.

This sense of oppression.

Only elite infantry can withstand it.

These were merely the families of the Eight Banners, and they immediately descended into chaos, trampling on one another!

Kangxi had already changed into his armor, and seeing so many cavalry charging towards him, he immediately gave the order.

"Escort the Empress Dowager ahead!"

"Feyanggu, take all available soldiers and hold them off!"

Although Emperor Kangxi had never fought a war, he knew that these families and weak troops could not withstand 30,000 iron cavalry.

A wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall. His first thought was to separate from Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, since he was young and strong and could escape.

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang naturally understood, but this was, after all, her own bloodline. She could only lift the carriage curtain, glance at Emperor Kangxi, and then give the order to Fei Yanggu.

"Go, and make sure His Majesty's safety is ensured. Also, erect the Yellow Dragon Banner on my carriage!"

"Xuan Ye, you should leave!"

Although Kangxi was embarrassed by the stares, he was the emperor and he had to continue ruling the Qing Dynasty. After kowtowing to Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, he mounted his horse and left with five hundred palace guards, heading southeast.

"Ugh!"

"Full speed ahead to Shanhaiguan!"

As Kangxi grew further and further away, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang seemed lost in thought. In the end, she simply shed a tear, sighed, and ordered the coachman to continue the journey.

This was a plain. Galdan, who had been observing with his binoculars, immediately saw several hundred cavalry break away. Judging from their escape direction to the southeast, he knew without a doubt that it was Kangxi.

"Send orders to Subutai and Liu Weiqing to immediately return to Beijing after annihilating all the Eight Banners families and obey Zhou Peigong's commands."

"Bater, select three thousand elite cavalry to follow me!"

"Everyone else, charge and kill the families of the Eight Banners!"

And so, Galdan led 3,500 cavalrymen in pursuit of Kangxi. To ensure speed, they threw away most of the provisions for their secondary horses.

Just after Galdan pursued and killed Kangxi, the Han army sent another 7,000 cavalry to charge. This time, the number of Eight Banner families who escaped was only a few hundred thousand. How could they withstand the trampling of the cavalry?

Within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a large-scale surrender began, but Galdan had already ordered an extermination, and Subutai, being a bloodthirsty man, showed no mercy.

When the sun was high in the sky, the southeastern part of Xianghe County had become a dead zone, including Fei Yanggu, who was pierced by thousands of arrows and knelt down by the canal.

This left the people and merchants on the passing ships speechless, unable to believe what they were seeing. The arrogant and domineering Eight Banners lords were being killed like pigs and dogs.

One of the old scholars burst into wild laughter, then grabbed the braid at the back of his head and cut it off.

"Haha, Jurchen slaves, those are all Jurchen slaves!"

"Dead, all dead, good riddance!"

"That damn braid, hahaha!"