Ma Hong then told everyone his demands, hoping that everyone would come out to maintain order, and he would promise to ensure everyone's safety in return.
The other nobles, all wanting to save their own lives, agreed, but the old man coldly snorted: "Who are the foreign enemies? And who are the ones invading my Northern Xiongnu?"
"Now that a thief has come to my house, he dares to reason with me! This is utterly unheard of and makes me a laughingstock!"
Upon hearing this, the guards of the capital's garrison immediately drew their swords, but Ma Hong stopped them.
Ma Hong wasn't good at negotiating, but he had great respect for men who were indomitable, even though he was an old man.
Ma Hong clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Old man, if you are not satisfied, please send your army to confront me. If not, please consider my terms first."
"Protect your people and maintain order!"
The old man glanced at him but remained silent, and the others seemed too afraid to speak. It was as if, given the old man's attitude, a normal army would have immediately executed him as a warning to others. The remaining men had no choice but to comply.
However, Ma Hong did not do so. He specifically requested: "Your order could save two million people in the entire prefecture."
Upon hearing this, the old man wavered slightly.
Mahone told him to go back and think it over. During this time, he ordered everyone to kill only those who disobeyed or those whose lives were threatened.
The latter was to ensure that the Imperial Guards could draw their swords quickly, ensuring their own safety while preventing indiscriminate killing.
Ma Hong has reached his limit. If anyone still refuses to cooperate, don't blame him for being impolite!
However, after letting the old man go back to consider it, in just one afternoon, the entire prefecture, even the unarmed, naturally launched an attack on the capital's guards.
The reason was that the old man used the time he had to consider to order all the nobles to perish together with Ma Hong.
Ma Hong took a deep breath. He had already given them a chance, but some people just didn't appreciate it.
That last bit of patience vanished.
He waved his hand and roared, "Fire!!"
Faced with the incited Hu and Xiongnu people attacking amidst the continuous artillery fire, who dared to rush forward and continue killing?
In fact, many nobles were very afraid of death, but they could not say it in front of their subordinates, so they ordered everyone to fight back against the Imperial Guard.
While his men led the common people to their deaths, these nobles had already secretly escaped to Hanzhou by carriage.
The Northern Xiongnu controlled three provinces, and Han Province was a relatively prosperous one. The Xiongnu artillery regiment that had previously fled went to Han Province.
After the capital's garrison attacked for two hours, the prefecture finally gave up resistance.
This time, however, Ma Hong no longer treated them as ordinary people, but as slaves.
Ma Hong gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, completely abandoning the idea of surrendering. He said, "The Hun people were once driven back to the grasslands by the founding emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty. Only a little over a hundred years later, they have already marched into the north and lived there for a hundred years."
We cannot repeat the same mistakes.
Xie Ying's face immediately darkened: "General, I am from the Xie family, a family of military generals. I understand your feelings."
"But Ci is not in command of troops, and any oversight will be detrimental to Your Majesty's future great undertakings!"
“I hope you remember what you said today.” Ma Hong looked at her with a complicated expression. “Although you’ve only been with me for a year, I treat you differently from others.”
That's what I expect from you.
Upon hearing this, Xie Ying was somewhat surprised. After hesitating for a moment, she nodded and said, "I will keep it in mind."
Ma Hong turned back, concealing his gaze, and finally ordered the Imperial Guards to pull out all the survivors and clean up the remnants of the prefecture.
That afternoon, news that a prefecture had fallen and that the Imperial Guards had begun entering Hanzhou spread panic throughout the prefecture.
The Huns and Xiongnu of Hanzhou fled in droves, not a single one daring to remain in the city. Only a few generals remained to defend it, but the bombardment of the imperial guards' cannons caused them to rout.
All the cannons and the Huns fled in disarray, abandoning their armor and weapons; no one dared to resist.
The Imperial Guards advanced with unstoppable force, sweeping across the land as if it were flat ground. Wherever they went, they purged any resistance. After killing for so long, even they became numb to it.
Hanzhou was not so difficult to conquer, which actually terrified many people.
That is, a total of three million Hu and Xiongnu people in Hanzhou were all abandoned in the city, causing massive stampedes. Many people fled back to the countryside, preparing to escape to the mountains for refuge.
When the imperial guards entered to distribute grain as usual, they discovered that there wasn't a single grain left in Hanzhou. It had all been taken away by the Xiongnu soldiers.
The Imperial Guards couldn't possibly use their own grain to aid the Xiongnu people. Hanzhou itself was a disaster area severely damaged by Liu Cheng; where would they find any food?
Upon seeing this, Xie Ying immediately led the Imperial Guards away from Hanzhou, not even staying overnight. They killed any Xiongnu soldiers they encountered; even if they spared the common people, they knew they would eventually starve to death in Hanzhou anyway.
The reason why the Jingwei Army was horrified when they entered Hanzhou was because they were terrified by the inhuman famine with corpses strewn all over the place.
In later generations, Hanzhou was also known as the "Ghost Prefecture." The more the story was told, the more bizarre it became.
News of the Imperial Guard's capture of two prefectures reached Tianjing. People throughout the southern Central Plains, hearing of the imperial court's swift and decisive victory, rejoiced. Even street vendors offered discounts of up to 70% to celebrate the triumph.
The last province is Jingzhou, the location of the White Umbrella Palace.
When Empress Dowager Liu Zi and Prince Anshan heard that their soldiers had fled without putting up any resistance,
They blamed the lower-ranking nobles for their cowardice and fear of death, and the nobles dared not utter a word. It wasn't that they were afraid to fight; they simply had no way to fight. Many of them were killed before they could even reach the capital's garrison. How could they possibly be a match for the capital's garrison?
Liu Zi already knew how powerful the Imperial Guards were, but she never expected them to be this powerful.
The fact that the pirate group was able to inflict heavy damage on the Imperial Guard shows how strong the pirate group was at the time.
She had thought that the newly established Tianjing, having suffered heavy losses after defeating the pirate group, would have two or three years to recover, giving the Northern Hu and Xiongnu a chance to catch their breath. Unexpectedly, the Western Jin emperor not only failed to bide his time but instead launched a direct attack on the Northern Hu and Xiongnu.
"Is there no one who can resist the Western Jin Dynasty?!" The Empress Dowager's voice echoed throughout the court, but no one dared to respond. It was like a pebble falling into a still, mirror-like lake, leaving no ripples.
Anshan Jun also fell silent.
The Empress Dowager then asked him, "If I were to grant you the throne now, would you personally lead the troops to defeat the enemy?"
Anshan-kun remained silent. He had previously been the one most vocal in his desire to succeed to the throne. Now, however, he had become timid and hesitant.
He even said, "Brother Wang..."
"Enough!" Liu Zi's eyes swept over all the ministers below the hall, and in the end she sadly discovered that all the big men who usually prided themselves on being grassland warriors and tough men had fallen silent under the cannon fire of the capital guards.
She rose from behind the curtain and uttered a famous line that would be remembered for generations: "Our Northern Xiongnu have no Han! Though I am not ranked among the Han, my heart is! I am ashamed before the Han!"
It means that I, the Northern Hun, am no longer a true man. Although she is a woman and not as fierce as some men, her heart is fiercer than any Hun man! And she is ashamed to be compared with the cowardly men of the Northern Hu now.
The nobles below, despite being so humiliated, dared not utter a sound. Normally, many of the older nobles would have pointed their fingers at her and cursed her as an old hag. Interfering in politics brings disaster to the world!
Now, at a time of crisis for the Northern Hu and Xiongnu, they are asking a woman they usually look down upon to step forward.
Empress Dowager Liu Zi immediately left the palace, leaning on her phoenix cane; she was going to personally lead the army. With the Empress Dowager leading the army, the remaining 130,000 Xiongnu soldiers were willing to join her in besieging Jingzhou.
When Ma Hong heard that the Empress Dowager was personally leading an expedition to settle scores with him, he was in a difficult situation.
Ma Hong immediately burst into laughter: "What a strong-willed Empress Dowager! It seems that not only in my Western Jin Dynasty, but even in the Northern Xiongnu, the most principled people now are women!"
"Good! Good! Liu Zi, Empress Dowager Liu, this general will remember this name!"
He then ordered Xie Ying to attack the west side of Jingzhou, forming an encirclement with him on the east side.
Xie Ying ordered 30,000 men to go to the west side, while Ma Hong led 30,000 men to attack the east side directly.
Seventy thousand men against one hundred and thirty thousand—the epic battle for Jingzhou had begun. Xie Shangguang was constantly on the move, supplying provisions; he hadn't slept for three days and three nights. All he did was deliver food and ammunition. The Ministry of Works was also sending in new cannons at an incredible pace. They even replicated the Com cannons used on warships, sending in thirty of them, along with eight hundred rounds of ammunition.
The Com Cannon can be formed by just two people and become a devastating force.
The advent of the Com cannon changed the tactics used on the front lines. It caught the Xiongnu off guard; before their military intelligence could be updated, the western flank of Jingzhou was breached by Xie Ying after only three days of defense.
The eastern gate then led into the area of the Northern Hu and Xiongnu noble residences, and the capital's guards rushed into Jingzhou, where they began hand-to-hand combat with the Xiongnu soldiers.
The Xiongnu soldiers were very capable in individual combat. The imperial guards fought them for a long time before barely managing to capture the noble mansion. After that, they headed to the White Urn Palace.
Meanwhile, the 130,000-strong Northern Xiongnu army had begun to flee with their families, and even though Liu Zi was guarding the front lines, she still couldn't win over the hearts of the people in the rear.
Ultimately, this led to the Empress Dowager being trapped in the Prince's Mansion by the Imperial Guards, while the fleeing Xiongnu soldiers suffered even greater casualties.
The five thousand Xiongnu soldiers who remained with the Empress Dowager were not attacked; instead, they were surrounded in a prince's residence, awaiting Ma Hong's arrival.
Ma Hong ignored those who fled behind, sending only 5,000 men to fight and drive the main force out of Jingzhou. No matter how they fled, the remaining Xiongnu soldiers could not be allowed to regroup into a force.
Although Ansan-kun did not participate in this battle, he committed suicide at the White Umbrella Palace.
He hadn't originally intended to commit suicide; he was even thinking of seeing his brother, the king. But as soon as he arrived at the palace, he saw his brother smoking his own homemade opium, crawling on the ground like a dog.
Anshan-kun, who had always admired Aqina, immediately recognized that the person in front of him was not his elder brother. He broke down and directly drew his sword and killed his elder brother.
Finally, he placed his brother's body on the bed and covered it up, then sat down on the edge of the bed and slit his own throat.
Other ministers from the Northern Hu and Xiongnu who had been making the most noise had already fled in all directions with their personal guards. Those who couldn't escape had returned to their residences, taken off their Xiongnu clothes, put on fine clothes, and were ready to surrender.
Those who still had a shred of courage committed suicide. Not a single one remained.
When Xie Ying stormed into the White Urn Palace, she led her men to search the entire vast palace, only to discover it was a den of iniquity. Every woman in the harem was addicted to opium, and not a single soldier was capable of resisting. They were like walking corpses.
One of the Imperial Guards, being rather naive, asked, "What is this? It smells quite nice."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Ying punched the guard: "You bastard, this is the Xiaoyao Pill poison! Didn't you see that when we stormed in, the people guarding the palace all turned into spineless wolves!"
"At our mercy!"
The imperial guards were terrified and moved away from the toxic fumes. Finally, Xie Ying, unable to bear it any longer, killed the smoker.
She searched everywhere for Anshan-kun, carrying her sword, and found his and Aqina's bodies in a palace on one side.
Without a word, Xie Ying beheaded the two men. She coldly carried their heads all the way out of the palace and finally to the gate of the Prince's Mansion.
Ma Hong had it packed in a box and sent to the Prince's Mansion.
The Xiongnu soldiers in the Prince's Palace still intended to put up a last-ditch resistance, but when they saw the heads of the Prince of Anshan and the King being brought in, their faith crumbled.
Liu Zi immediately ordered the messenger to go out and negotiate with Ma Hong, saying that she was willing to surrender.
When Xie Ying saw the Hu Xiongnu envoy crawling out like a worm, looking timid and cowering, he was a far cry from the arrogant and rude person he had been in front of the marshal.
She despises these people.
Ma Hong agreed to accept Liu Zi's surrender, but on the condition that she announce it publicly. He also ordered the remaining men to cease all resistance.
Empress Dowager Liu Zi agreed to everything. Ma Hong then invited her out.
A short while later, Ma Hong saw a sixty-year-old woman with white hair and wrinkled skin walking out with a cane.
Ma Hong looked around and saw that she was surrounded by loyal Xiongnu soldiers, but not a single minister or general.
He said, "This general accepts the surrender on behalf of the Emperor. I request the Empress Dowager to hand over the Phoenix Seal!"
Upon hearing this, the Xiongnu soldiers around Liu Zi were immediately enraged, looking ready to fight him to the death.
Liu Zi directly handed the Phoenix Seal to her. Clearly, it had been arranged beforehand. Ma Hong didn't make things difficult for her further, but instead told her to stay at the Prince's residence and await His Majesty's decision.