Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Almost at the same time as the nine gates fired guns and raised the flag one after another, a gray column of smoke rose from the direction of Chongwen Gate.It was as if someone was constantly adding fuel, and it turned into billowing black smoke in a short while, and then was blown by the wind, and soon covered the southern sky, as if covered with a layer of black veil.

A servant guarding the gate shouted in surprise: "It's on fire! It seems to be outside the Chongwen Gate!"

At this time, the passers-by on the street also pointed to the east and shouted loudly: "Look! The east side is also on fire!" Everyone at the gate of the Wangfu heard the sound and saw, no, there was also a thick smoke rising outside the Qihua Gate.

If the soaring fire outside the city was just a surprise, then the intense gunshots from the south simply stunned everyone in front of the palace.This is the capital, the center of the world!What happened?Could it be that the god damn North Sea Pirates are attacking Tianjin again?
Go back to half an hour ago.

Located under the Baita Mountain Fort on Qiongdao, the firearms manager Amurta was drinking tea leisurely in the house. The arrival of a few unexpected guests made him lose his good mood for the day.Those who came were five big inner guards wearing yellow mandarin jackets. They were all big-armed and thick-waisted, with waist knives and sharp eyes.Before waiting for the notification, the leader shouted in a rough voice: "Where is Amurta? Come out to receive the order!"

Amurta in the office took a mouthful of hot tea and sprayed it out.You must know that no one will come to deliver the decree easily in his place, and it will be no small matter when he comes.He didn't care to wipe the tea on his chest, and ran outside the house in a hurry, knelt down in the tunnel and said, "Slave Amurta accepts the order!"

"The decree, the North Sea pirates invaded the capital on a large scale, and thousands of soldiers and horses are besieging Miyun County. The Baitashan Fortress fired warning shots, and the nine gates were under martial law!"

After the head guard finished reading, he first handed over the edict in his hand, then took out a gold medal from his pocket and said: "This is a gold medal, please examine it, sir."

Amurta first received the decree with both hands up high, and then received the gold medal, only to see the four characters "Firing Cannons by Order" engraved on the front from top to bottom.He collected himself, and then cupped his hands and said: "Please wait a moment, the rules and regulations, I have to verify first before firing."

The headed guard nodded and said, "Your Excellency, you can call the gunner on duty to inspect together, so as not to delay."

"As it should be!"

Amurta got up in a hurry and asked his men to go down to the fort to call for someone, and then went back to the office to wait, and several guards also came in.Not long after, the officer on duty came running out of breath, and just about to salute after entering the room, he heard the guard who delivered the order before say: "The military situation is urgent! The false salute will be waived!"

The leader's flattery failed, so he had to stand at the bottom awkwardly.Seeing that someone was coming, Amurta took down the brass key tied with a red string from his waist, tremblingly opened a boxwood box on the table, took out a booklet from it, quickly flipped through a few pages, and then Start checking with the token in your hand.

He first checked the imperial decree, and there was no problem with the paper, words, and the seal of the "Emperor's Treasure".He was silent for a moment, raised his head and cupped his hands at the guard who passed the decree: "Your Excellency is so tight, dare to ask your name?"

"A certain name is Wushiba, and he is now the second-class bodyguard in front of the imperial court. Why do you ask this? Have you finished the inspection? You can order the firing, and I have to go back to deal with it later."

"I can't fire this cannon!"

"Do you dare to resist the order?!"

"As the chief officer of the letter gun appointed by the emperor, how can I resist the order? It is really this gold."

Before Amurta finished speaking, Ushba suddenly rushed forward, raised his hand and punched the opponent in the face.Although Amurta is a military professional, he has not practiced bow Mabuku for many years. He was caught off guard and was knocked to the ground. Venus stared in front of his eyes, the world was spinning, and even the official hat on his head fell off.

Ushiba drew his saber from his waist, pointed at Amurta on the ground and shouted angrily: "What's the intention of delaying it?! It's clear that you are colluding with the northern pirates! Before coming here, the emperor has an order, and those who resist the order and don't follow it will be punished." beheaded!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he grabbed the opponent's braid, forced him to raise his head, and then cut the jugular artery with his sharp blade.The blood from Amurta's neck shot straight out like a sharp arrow, and splashed onto the wall a few meters away; while he himself groaned, rolled on the ground a few times, his legs twitched, and his whole body trembled violently , After only a moment, the foot kicked, and it didn't move anymore.

With a vicious look on his face, Wushiba turned around and pointed at the stunned leader with the bloody Yanling knife, and said, "Do you dare to resist the order?!"

Shen Ling, who had been frightened into a fool, his legs went limp, and he knelt down on the ground, chattering his upper and lower teeth and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I dare not."

"The gold medal holy decree is for this, immediately fire the cannon! If you delay the important event, you will end up in the same way!"

"This is the official, let's go, let's go."

Ushiba nodded and said, "You know what to do, lead the way ahead! If you dare to disagree, keep your head carefully!"

As the leader walked, he kept turning his head and replied: "No, no, the next official is the Han army with a white flag. The ancestors joined the dragon outside the pass. They followed Taizong to fight everywhere, and then followed Shizu to enter. close."

Ushba sneered and said, "Then the North Sea Pirates are full of rebellious people?! There is no good thing for those people outside the pass!"

The leader said hurriedly: "The lower officials are different, the whole family is in the capital. The lower officials dare to swear to the sky, they will be loyal to the court and the emperor!"

Several people climbed up the steps, and soon came to the Beihai White Pagoda.Ushiba and several of his subordinates had never been here before. They saw a fort built of granite over half a foot high on the north, east, and west sides of the pagoda, and two on the south-facing side; The black lacquered straight iron cannon is no more than one foot and eight inches long. The cannon body has no engraved patterns, and is only tied with thick iron hoops in the middle and tail of the cannon body.In the four directions of the fort and near the middle, there are still five bare flagpoles.

This is the famous Baita Shanxin Fort!
It is said that when the Qing Dynasty first entered the customs and occupied Beijing, because they knew that their foundation was not stable, in order to ensure the safety of the capital, they feared that once there were police, they would not be trusted to gather the crowd, so they imitated Shengjing’s system of beating drums and gathering crowds, and set up on Meishan. The signal cannons used for military alarms were purchased so that the Eight Banners stationed in Beijing could quickly gather to defend against the enemy.

Later, in the tenth year of Shunzhi, at the request of the Ministry of War Shangshu Gadahun, Prince Zheng Jierhalang seconded, moved the fort to the top of Baita Mountain, Qiongdao, Beihai, and set up five letter cannons and five flagpoles at the nine gates of the inner city. Once something happens, the Yellow Dragon flag is hung during the day and the lantern is hung at night.

The garrison of the Baita Shanxin Fort is composed of the left and right wings of the Eight Banners Han Army. According to the requirement of two shifts per day, there are 2 commander-level letter artillery officers, 2 leader-level artillery officers, and 16 Xiaoqi guards.As for the letter cannons on the nine gates of the inner city, the infantry commander Yamen sent people to guard them.

In the early years of Yongzheng, in order to ensure the throne and prevent the danger of a coup d'etat within the Eight Banners, Long Kedo, then the admiral of the Nine Gates, resorted to writing the system of firing cannons for early warning and made it a decree; language writing.This can be regarded as the most complete urban early warning and citizen mobilization system in the classical Chinese era.

Although there were basically no wars in the Gyeonggi area in the early Qing Dynasty, and Xinpao had little chance to play a role, the three generations of Kang, Yong, and Gan paid great attention to the management of Xinpao.For example, in the eighth year of Qianlong's reign, some eunuchs in the palace spread gossip about someone taking something from the Xinbao Fort. As a result, the next day after the incident, Qianlong severely punished the two eunuchs for leaking Eight Banners military secrets.

However, no matter how perfect the early warning system is, it is based on the strong combat effectiveness of the army.The fighting power of the Eight Banners comes from the "banner people", a group that unites the army and the people; once this group becomes corrupt and degenerate, the system of lettering and cannon can only become a loud firecracker.

In October of the 54th year of Qianlong, after the Naval Battle of Changxing Island, the Northern Navy approached Dagukou, which caused panic among the Qing court. They all thought that Zhao Xin was going to attack the capital.Qianlong then ordered the firing of Baitashan letter cannons, preparing for a general mobilization of the Eight Banners, but he almost died of anger in the end.

At that time, the five cannons on Baita Mountain were fired, and the Huanglong flag was also raised, but the nine forts did not respond.Under the gate of the city is still crowded with people and cars, and the bannermen and uncles in the teahouse should drink tea and listen to operas.As for the princes Baylor who were at home, they were startled after the cannon fired, and then they sent people to Shuntian Mansion to ask for an explanation, and they must catch the full-fledged guy.
Fortunately, Zhao Xin had no intention of attacking the capital at that time, not even the city of Tianjin.When the Northern Navy left Dagukou with the signed and sealed agreement and the first group of refugees, Qianlong, who got up from his sick bed, became more and more angry, so he issued a Taoist edict, reconciling the capitals and deputy capitals of all banners. The king's ministers were summoned into the palace, scolded swearingly, and all of them were fined for one year.After that, he sent Heshen, Zongren Mansion, and Mian En, who was still the king of Dingjun, to form a joint delegation to inspect Baita Mountain and various forts on the city gate, and even performed a performance for the first time.

In the escape plan discussed by He Shen and Ma 83, the two of them had the idea of ​​a gun from the very beginning.You have to know that if you don't count as ordinary servants and servants, there are two to three hundred people in the Hefu.It is impossible for so many people to leave the capital at the same time without being noticed; the only way is to beat the time difference.

And our Lord He, as the Chief Minister of Military Aircraft and the Minister of the Guards, Minister of the Ministry of War, and Admiral of the Nine Gates, knows the operating procedures of the Baitashan Fort very well.

So he took advantage of Qianlong's apoplexy, first controlled the palace ban and news in and out, and got the jade seal, so he could pass the forged edict, and then let his minions hold the gold medal of "fired by order" that was imitated in advance, and went to the White House. Tashan ordered to fire a warning.

Immediately afterwards, he forced Prince Yi and Prince Ding to enter the garden, detained them, and got the military amulet of the nine admirals, and the commander of the infantry in the city could only listen to him alone.Now all the idiots in the capital know that He Zhongtang is backed by the emperor and has great power, who would dare not obey his orders if he thinks his life is long? !
The leader took the previous decree and gold medal from Wushiba, raised his hands high, and shouted to the eight defenders kneeling in front of him: "The emperor has a decree, the North Sea bandits invade the capital, immediately call Cannon warning!"

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

At the same moment, in the backyard of a shop selling silk flowers on the east side of the Huoshen Temple outside Chongwenmen, seven or eight men with cloth towels covering their faces and heads, dressed in bunts, were about to be killed by them. The shopkeeper and his wife carried it into the wing room; there are piles of grass and silk used to make silk flowers.Then these people poured tung oil, gunpowder and other things prepared in advance in the leather pockets in various houses, and when the preparations were almost done, these people gathered in the courtyard again, took out the revolver made by Beihai Town from their waists, and started filling.

The masked strong man at the head suppressed his voice, and said to his subordinates: "Be careful for a while! Don't hit your own people!"

"Don't worry, Boss Ma. It's not like our brothers have never fired this gun before."

"If you ask me, it's no wonder that the imperial court can't defeat the Northern Sea Pirates. Look at their fast guns, which are much stronger than two shotguns! It's just that there are fewer guns."

"After a while, the fire will be together, and there will be a big fire beside the Fire God Temple, hehe~~"

The masked man known as Boss Ma scolded in a low voice: "Stop talking nonsense! I'll say it again, after the shooting, leave the city from Guangqumen! The boats at Zhangjiawan don't wait for anyone. let's go!"

At this time, a guy with a thin voice might be nervous, and asked, "Boss Ma, how far is Yunnan from the capital?"

Boss Ma thought for a while and said, "Three thousand miles may not be able to stop."

With a thin voice, he pursed his lips—his face was covered so that no one could see him, and he said, "It's his grandma! I don't know when I'll be back after I finish this job!"

Boss Ma ignored him, and urged his subordinates to quickly load the bullets and primer on the revolver, while listening to the movement outside.In the afternoon, the Flower Market Street is crowded with people, and the shops selling silk flowers and paper flowers are bustling, very lively.

Suddenly, these people heard a "bang" cannon sound from a distance in the north, and after a while, there was another sound.Boss Ma's eyes widened immediately, and he counted the cannon shots carefully. When the fifth cannon sounded, he immediately ordered: "Do it!"

When the rooms were set on fire, several masked gangsters quickly came to the closed courtyard door. They had already taken off the cloth scarves on their faces and heads, then opened the door, and filed out as if nothing had happened, and disappeared in a blink of an eye. To the panic flow of people.

Soon, a stern voice sounded on the street: "It's not good! The North Sea Pirates have entered the city! Li San's family has been killed! Everyone run to the inner city!"

Immediately afterwards, three explosions of "bang bang bang" were heard, and then more gunshots rang out on the Huashi Street. The crowd immediately became chaotic, and hundreds of people rushed towards Chongwenmen. There were cries and women's shouts, and there were fallen objects all over the ground.

At this moment, no one noticed that a raging fire was ignited in the backyard of the silk flower shop, and the flames and thick smoke rolled up along the eaves.There was a loud "boom", and as a fireball rose, countless ignited silk fragments and weeds were blown into the air by the scorching air waves, and then fell into the courtyards of the two families on the left and right, and the fire quickly Think about the spread on the left and right sides of Ertiao Hutong.

However, when the fleeing crowd came to the Chongwenmen urn, they were shocked to find that the heavy city gate was slowly closing.So they ran forward desperately, trying to sneak into the gap before others, and the city gate quickly became crowded.However, the more they behaved like this, the more terrified the defenders who were closing the city gate became.

"Go back! Go back! Damn it!"

"Come quickly and help close the gate! If you don't come here, the city gate will be knocked open!"

"Master! Come on, the North Sea Pirates outside the city are coming, let's go in and take shelter!"

"Bastard! Return them all to me!"

"Changshun, you kid let me in, I'm your second uncle!"

"Hey! Second uncle, why are you here? Come in quickly!"

"Mr. Qi, I'm Liu San. The two of us have been listening to operas together for the first few days! Please do me a favor and let me go!"

"Get out! I don't know anyone!"

The gatekeeper on the gate of Chongwen City stood on the crenel of the city wall, seeing more and more people below, panicked like ants on a hot pot.Just when he didn't know what to do, he saw a large group of officers and soldiers of the infantry commanding the yamen running along the city wall from the direction of the front gate, and one of the leaders, the deputy commander, said sharply, "Why hasn't the city gate been closed yet?! Are you delaying a major event, waiting to lose your head!"

He ignored the gatekeeper who came to salute, turned around and led the next member of his opponent, "You! Take 50 people down, whoever dares to squeeze through the gate will directly stab with a gun!"

Not long after, there were exclamations and screams under the Chongwenmen city, and people kept falling in a pool of blood.As the crowd backed away in panic, the heavy gate was finally shut tightly, leaving countless people crying and shouting inside the urn.

Just as the infantry commanded the officers and soldiers of the yamen to control the gates and walls of the various cities, a series of dull conch horns sounded from various places in the city, and the general mobilization of the Eight Banners in the inner city began.

There are still two or three bases left on the Beihai White Tower Fortress. If you have a chance, you can go and see it.