Chapter 001 by the Songhua River
His name is Zhao Qiang. In his previous life, he was just an ordinary university student. After graduating from university, he struggled to find a good job, so he helped his father run a pork shop, spending his time reading books in between slaughtering pigs and selling meat. One day, after closing the shop early, he leaned on the counter to read "The History of the Qing Dynasty." Having stayed up all night reading the previous evening, he was somewhat fatigued and dozed off while reading. When he awoke, he found himself in the twenty-first year of the Kangxi era, inhabiting the body of another man also named Zhao Qiang.
When Zhao Qiang was certain that he was not dreaming and that the golden rat tail at the back of his head truly existed, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. However, he could do nothing, for the Zhao Qiang he was inhabiting was merely a war prisoner being taken to the frontier as a slave after a defeat, and before his defeat, he had served none other than Wu Sangui, the General of Shanhaiguan of the former Ming Dynasty, the Prince of Pingxi of the Manchu Qing, and the Emperor Zhaowu of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The fleet on the river is drawing closer. After several advance ships have passed, a grand and spacious vessel, magnificent and luxurious, slowly approaches. The boat features towering pavilions, intricately carved hulls, and gilded decorations, exuding an extraordinary presence. From bow to stern, it is adorned with yellow dragon flags, and both sides of the ship's deck are filled with guards dressed in yellow uniforms, exuding an imposing aura that makes one hesitant to look directly at them
The men in the forest, clad in rags, either willingly or unwillingly joined in the shouting upon witnessing the scene. However, the large ship did not linger, but slowly sailed downstream amidst the cheers of thousands. The crowd on the shore did not immediately rise; they continued to bow their heads, waiting for the ship to drift further away. Only one person abruptly lifted his head, his piercing gaze fixed on the large ship; it was the man who had just knelt silently beside the old man.
Wu Hetushu .com .com felt a sharp pain in his backside, yet he dared not voice it, so he could only endure the pain and express his grievances: "Third Brother, I haven't said anything wrong, why do you want to hit me? If you had listened to me back then, and we all went up the mountain to become bandits together, although we would still be living on the edge, it would surely be better than being slaves out here. Look at how we are living now, with nothing to eat or drink, damn it, let alone finding a cousin to have fun with. We have to watch the Tartar's expressions in everything we do, and if they take a disliking to us, they beat us up without hesitation... Look at how we are living now, with nothing to eat or drink, damn it, let alone finding a cousin to have fun with. We have to watch the Tartar's expressions in everything we do, and if they take a disliking to us, they beat us up without hesitation..."
In the woods by the Songhua River, two thousand ragged men are kneeling in rows on the ground. Surrounding them are hundreds of Qing army Eight Banner soldiers, dressed in cotton armor and sporting rat-tail hairstyles, who are watching them with hawkish eyes. None of the kneeling men dare to lift their heads; most of them wear expressions that are almost numb, knowing only to obey the commands of the Qing soldiers, not daring to show even a hint of dissatisfaction. Occasionally, someone cannot help but raise their head, only to be dragged out of the crowd by the Qing soldiers behind them and subjected to a brutal beating. After a few such incidents, no one in the crowd dares to lift their head again. In the silent woods, only the chirping of birds and the sound of the river lapping against the shore can be heard, occasionally interrupted by a few suppressed coughs. Nevertheless, the Qing soldiers continue to weave through the crowd, brandishing their gleaming swords and knives to intimidate these docile men into remaining still.
Wu Sichao glanced over, just about to retort a few words, but was met with a glare from the old man, causing the words to stick in his throat. The other two men nearby, seeing this, immediately pressed his head down. One of them, an older man with a scar on his forehead, angrily scolded Wu Si: "Old Si, do you think we are still the loyal and brave battalion of the past, the vanguard fighting for the prince? Don't forget, we are now criminals, we are slaves. If you continue to be so ungrateful, when the day comes that your life is taken, don't blame me for not warning you!"
What the generals and the Qing army did not expect was that at the very front of the crowd, near the woods closest to the river, there was a young man who, disregarding their strict orders, boldly looked up at the distant fleet and called out to his companions in a low voice. However, before his companions could look up, he was silenced by an old man beside him, whose face was covered in wrinkles.
The old man cautiously turned his head to look behind him. Seeing that the Qing soldiers were intently gazing at the river and had not noticed them, he finally felt relieved and turned back to Wu Si, saying: "It’s not the ten thousand that we fear, but the one. If any sharp-eyed Qing soldier sees you looking up at the river, won’t they immediately drag you out!" Noticing that Wu Si seemed somewhat indifferent, the old man sighed inwardly, pointing to a man kneeling to his left who was focused on looking down at the ground without uttering a word, and said to Wu Si: "Why can’t you learn from this Brother Zhao? At this rate, I see that one day you will surely lose your life."
Wu Sangui has been vilified in historical texts as a traitor, yet Zhao Qiang considers him a hero. Regardless of whether his initial decision to allow the Qing army to enter the pass was truly, as some folk historians claim, an act of seeking revenge for his sovereign, or whether he was forced into treachery after riding the tiger, or if it was out of a passionate rage for his woman Chen Yuanyuan, or to protect the interests of the Guanning faction by willingly siding with the Qing, one thing is certain: these are all mere speculations by the world. The true motives of Wu Sangui remain unknown. However, based solely on his later rebellion against the Qing, he deserves the title of hero. Whether it was for his woman Chen Yuanyuan or to safeguard the interests of the Guanning faction, these are all conjectures by the public. Wu Sangui's true motivations are beyond anyone's knowledge, yet his subsequent uprising against the Qing certainly merits the title of hero. People are not without faults; as for the merits and demerits, the world will have its own judgment. Whether one calls Wu Sangui a servant of three families, a shameless villain, or a traitor, it cannot erase his deeds of resisting the Qing dynasty's rule. Is it merely because the Qing ruled China for over twenty years that we must accept it as legitimate, and that Wu Sangui's uprising is deemed an act against heaven, disrupting the unity of the realm? If one insists on labeling Wu Sangui as a traitor, then how should we refer to his rebellion against the Qing? A mere label of a fickle villain is hardly convincing! In terms of national sentiment, Zhao Qiang identifies with anyone who dares to resist the Manchu rule, regardless of their past actions; as long as they rise against the Qing, in Zhao Qiang's eyes, they are heroes.
I ... ...
The old man, seeing Wu Si still chattering away, interrupted him with some impatience: "Are you really hoping to bring the Qing army over?"
As the large ship approached the crowd directly in front of it on the river, a horn suddenly sounded from the ship. Immediately, two guards ran to the bow and waved their flags towards the shore. Upon seeing this, the Qing soldiers on the shore hurriedly lined up and ran towards the riverbank, then knelt in unison at the water's edge, calling out loudly to the large ship: "Long live, long live, long live!"
Alright, no more talking
Wu Si, are you out of your mind? Quickly bury your head down!
Look, the ship of the Dada Emperor has arrived
As for it ... ...
Being cautious will never lead to mistakes
Upon hearing the scarred man speak of him in such a manner, Wu Si felt a surge of indignation and retorted, "Elder brother, I have never considered myself a slave. If it weren't for you and Second Brother insisting on surrendering to the Qing army against my advice back in the day, we would not have been exiled by the Tartars to suffer such indignities beyond the Great Wall."
In later generations, Zhao Qiang despised the Qing palace braid dramas that were constantly broadcast on the screen, such as "Kangxi Emperor" and "General Shi Lang," which made him feel like vomiting blood. Occasionally, he came across a few time-travel dramas, which also featured beautiful women falling in love with those princes, taking pride in being "Gege" or "Fujin." As for the Qing dynasty time-travel novels on some literary websites, they infuriated him even more, making him wish he could drag the authors out and question them thoroughly: Are those so-called Xiao Si and Xiao Ba really the princes charming of your dreams?
Seeing that his elder brother and third brother were looking at him with anger, Wu Si curled his lips, and it was evident that he still had much to say. However, under the furious gazes of his two elder brothers, he eventually lowered his head. The scarred man and the old man exchanged a glance, shook their heads helplessly, and each lowered their heads.
Another man, seeing Wu Si daring to speak to the scarred man in such a manner, was filled with anger and punched him in the backside, saying: "Lao Si, what are you thinking? How dare you speak to the big brother like that!"
Kangxi, one day I will see you, you big scar! The man stared at the large ship for several seconds, then quickly lowered his head again, his face calm as before, as if the earlier scene had never happened.
The reason these men were strictly ordered by the Qing army not to raise their heads was that a fleet was slowly approaching across the river in front of them. The dragon flag fluttering in the wind, the fleet stretching for several miles, and the Qing soldiers standing in formation all indicated the unusual status of the fleet's owner. As the fleet drew nearer, the expressions on the faces of the Qing soldiers grew increasingly serious. The leading deputy general, feeling somewhat tense, quietly instructed the adjutant beside him to ensure that their soldiers were properly organized and not to move about carelessly. After several adjutants received their orders, they quickly shouted for their soldiers to step out from the crowd and then formed ranks at the back of the crowd. Seeing this, the deputy general revealed a satisfied smile. However, upon noticing the densely kneeling crowd before him, his lips involuntarily twitched, revealing a look of disdain, and then he solemnly turned his gaze back to the river.
After Wu Sangui passed away in Hengyang, his nephew Wu Yingqi led the army southward. At this point, the Wu forces began to disintegrate and could no longer withstand the onslaught of the Qing army. The man named Zhao Qiang, who had taken on this identity, was originally a bodyguard of the Wu general Wang Pingpan. After Wang Pingfan committed suicide following his defeat in Sichuan, he surrendered to the Qing army along with over two thousand remnants of the Wu forces. Later, he joined with more than sixty thousand captured former Wu soldiers and loyal subjects of Wu Sangui from Yunnan, who were gradually transported by the Qing court to the border areas of Ningguta and Shanggan Fortress to be assigned as laborers.
However, he cannot change reality. Apart from feeling depressed, there is nothing he can do, nothing he can change. He can only fantasize at night about how he would act to save the inheritance of Chinese civilization if he lived in that great era of foreign invasion. Now, fate has truly given him an opportunity, allowing him to return to this dark age, thirty years after the Qing Dynasty's entry into the Central Plains, yet he can do nothing because he lacks a distinguished family background and innate noble blood; he does not have a loyal army devoted to him, nor does he possess vast wealth to recruit soldiers. He does not even have personal freedom, as he is merely a slave exiled to the frontier.
The young man known as Wu Si seemed quite afraid of the old man. Upon hearing his words, he immediately lowered his head, but he muttered somewhat unwillingly, "Master Pan, you are being overly cautious. We are so far away; how could those Qing soldiers possibly see us here"