Chapter 388: Xiong Tingbi's Hesitation

Sun Chuanting had not expected the Emperor to grant him such broad autonomy, and he was instantly filled with immense gratitude.

After all, autonomy like this was not easily obtained—especially in military matters.

Sun Chuanting hurriedly said, "Rest assured, Your Majesty. Your servant will not let Your Majesty down."

Zhu Youxiao did have confidence that Sun Chuanting would not let him down. After all, Sun Chuanting was very strong when it came to training troops—in his previous life, he had taken in a pile of ragtag leftovers and still managed to forge them into elite soldiers.

If not for the situation having deteriorated too far, combined with the Chongzhen Emperor being too impatient and distrustful of others, things would not have ended up the way they did.

Zhu Youxiao said, "Work hard, and don't be afraid of making mistakes. You're still young—making mistakes is normal; not making mistakes is what's abnormal. Don't be too cautious either. When you're young, you need to dare to fight and dare to charge."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Sun Chuanting hurriedly bowed in acceptance.

The Emperor could even consider something like this—Sun Chuanting felt even more moved inside.

"Go on, gather those few young companions of yours and discuss things properly." Zhu Youxiao looked at Sun Chuanting and said with a smile, "The time left for us is not much, so you must put in extra effort."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Sun Chuanting accepted once again.

Watching Sun Chuanting's departing back, Zhu Youxiao's face showed a thoughtful expression.

Walking over to the table at the side, Zhu Youxiao reached out and picked up a routine memorial. After glancing at it, he set it aside again and let out a helpless sigh.

This memorial had been submitted by Xu Guangqi, and it was also a memorial concerning military affairs.

Ever since entering the court, Xu Guangqi had rarely submitted memorials on this subject. Because he seemed to have realized that the Emperor's new army was very good and simply had no need of him, he had interfered very little.

But this time was different—clearly, Xu Guangqi also felt that this matter was very important.

Xu Guangqi proposed a strategy for resisting the Jin: establishing guardianship over Joseon.

In fact, this was not the first time Xu Guangqi had raised this idea. During the Wanli era, Xu Guangqi had already proposed this strategy for resisting the Jin, only it had not been adopted.

This time, Xu Guangqi was simply dusting off this idea once again. Xu Guangqi very obliquely suggested: "Send envoys to proclaim imperial edicts, thereby establishing guardianship over that country," in order to "train twenty thousand Joseon soldiers." In short, it was abolishing the tributary state and ruling it directly.

To put it plainly, this was the prototype of a later-day colony, just like the later American troops stationed in Japan. This time Xu Guangqi raised it again, hoping the court would send people to Joseon—first, to station troops there, and second, to help Joseon train its soldiers.

Additionally, Xu Guangqi also put forward another suggestion: recruiting some foreigners.

Recruiting some Portuguese from Macau and other places, having them make contributions to the Great Ming, helping the army cast cannons, and at the same time helping train artillerymen, engineers, and other branches of the military.

These things, if placed in ordinary times, or in the past, might still count as quite advanced. But now Zhu Youxiao did not think much of them.

As for allying with Portugal, that could be done later on, but right now there was no energy for it. As for sending people to Joseon, Zhu Youxiao had not considered that either.

Joseon was indeed very obedient right now, but expecting Joseon's army to be able to defeat Nurhaci was simply unrealistic. Wasting money and energy in Joseon was not as good as properly strengthening the Great Ming's own power.

As for turning Joseon into a colony, Zhu Youxiao had no such intention either. The time was not yet right—many problems had not been solved yet, and the steps could not be taken too wide, or else one might easily tear something.

Zhu Youxiao put the memorial down, turned to Chen Hong, and said, "Go tell Xu Guangqi that in this memorial of his, the matter of Joseon is dropped. As for his wanting to recruit some foreigners, let him handle it himself."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong hurriedly acknowledged, turned around, and walked out.

Zhu Youxiao let out a sigh and walked expressionlessly over to the map not far away.

Looking at the map of the Great Ming's territory before him, Zhu Youxiao felt somewhat helpless inside.

Who knew how Liaodong was doing right now—this year was likely to be a very hard one to get through. If he could make it through this year, then the days ahead would be much easier.

While Zhu Youxiao was worrying about Liaodong, at this very moment Liaodong was ablaze with the fires of war.

Warhorses carrying messages shuttled back and forth without cease, countless troops began to mobilize, and grain and fodder began to be stockpiled—the whole scene looked like preparations for battle.

Shenyang city.

A scout horse quickly charged into the city.

Xiong Tingbi sat inside the commander's tent, also looking at a map, his expression very grave.

For Xiong Tingbi, his current circumstances were far better than in the original history.

Xiong Tingbi now had the Emperor's trust at court, and his prestige could be said to be very high. Because he had the Emperor's trust, everything he did could gain support at court, so he dared to do more.

"Great Marshal, someone has reported that Wild Boar Skin has left Tieling and is heading toward Shenyang!" Li Guangrong walked in from outside, his face solemn.

Hearing Li Guangrong's words, Xiong Tingbi's expression also turned serious.

He turned to look at the map and quickly located the route of march on it, then said, "It seems they're getting restless again—they're determined to come attack Shenyang!"

After saying this, Xiong Tingbi's brows furrowed.

Shenyang was truly a vital place.

Once Shenyang was lost, then Wild Boar Skin could next advance and capture Liaoyang.

Once Shenyang was lost, Liaoyang could not be held either. So this place, Shenyang, absolutely could not be lost.

Previously, Wild Boar Skin had only been making harassing raids, but this time he was mounting a large-scale invasion with his main army—clearly, he was prepared.

This made Xiong Tingbi hesitate somewhat—what exactly was the other side trying to do?

Looking at Xiong Tingbi, Li Guangrong said with some hesitation, "Great Marshal, should we launch an attack?"

In fact, from the time Xiong Tingbi arrived in Liaodong, the entire Liaodong front had adopted a defensive posture. What was done was building fortresses, constructing interlocking defensive works, with front and rear supporting each other; all policies were aimed at defense. Combined with the considerable funds the court provided, along with plenty of military equipment, armor, blades, and spears, the overall military strength of Liaodong had been greatly improved.

Xiong Tingbi had also recruited many people, dismissed many people, and punished many people. Military training had also been raised, and the combat effectiveness of the entire Liaodong army had improved considerably. So now some people already felt they could have a good, decisive battle with Wild Boar Skin.

For example, the Li Guangrong before him—he thought exactly that.

Xiong Tingbi glanced at Li Guangrong, a hesitant expression on his face. As for what he had come to Liaodong to do, Xiong Tingbi was very clear in his heart.

The Emperor had sent him to Liaodong for the purpose of holding Liaodong. To put it plainly, it was to hold Liaoyang and Shenyang—these two places could not be lost.

Now Tieling, Kaiyuan, Lushun, and other places had already been lost, and Wild Boar Skin had even begun to infiltrate toward southern Liaodong, yet he had still let it be.

If he sent out troops now, there was a chance that everything he had done before would all be wasted, and then he would have failed the Emperor's trust.

That was absolutely not what the Emperor wanted, nor what Xiong Tingbi wanted.

"Great Marshal, if we only defend and never attack, it really does hurt morale somewhat." Li Guangrong said with some urgency.

These words made Xiong Tingbi think of Wang Zaijin once again.

When Wang Zaijin came to Liaodong, Xiong Tingbi had met him once. Wang Zaijin had once analyzed the situation with Xiong Tingbi.

At that time, Wang Zaijin had said:

"The eastern affairs have fallen into disarray—first ruined at Fushun and Qinghe, then ruined at Kaiyuan and Tieling, third ruined at Liaoyang and Shenyang, fourth ruined at Guangning."

"First defeat makes a perilous situation, second defeat makes a losing situation, third defeat makes a broken situation, and as for the fourth defeat—abandoning all of Liaodong, then there will be no situation left to arrange at all. Retreating step by step to Shanhai Pass, after that there will be no further step to retreat."

According to Wang Zaijin's account, Qingfu was already lost, Kaiyuan and Tieling were also lost, and what remained were only Liaoyang and Shenyang. If Liaoyang and Shenyang fell, then only Guangning would remain, and the entire Liaodong would have no ground left to defend. If Guangning were lost as well, one could only retreat to the Shanhai Pass line.

So Xiong Tingbi also knew the importance of Shenyang and Liaoyang. Going out to fight that Wild Boar Skin was indeed somewhat inconsistent with the established strategy.

But what Li Guangrong said also made sense—not fighting at all would indeed have some impact on morale.

After pondering for a moment, Xiong Tingbi said: "Send out scouts, and be ready to meet the enemy at any time."

In any case, Xiong Tingbi felt he should first see how things developed. If they could fight, then fight; if they couldn't, then as before, they would hold their ground to the death and see what Nurhaci could do about it.

At the same time, Nurhaci led his great army straight toward Shenyang.

In the camp, Nurhaci's expression was also very grave.

Around him were his sons and his leading generals. Every face bore an angry look, as if ready to kill at any moment.

"This time, remember this: if we can get Xiong Tingbi to come out of the city and fight us, then we fight; if he does not come out, we retreat." Nurhaci instructed.

The men below were all somewhat indignant.

Manggūltai stood up and said: "Father Khan, your son is willing to lead men in a direct assault on Shenyang—I will definitely take Shenyang!"

Glancing at Manggūltai, Nurhaci said: "No reckless talk. Now return and each command your troops. If anyone dares to disobey my orders, they will be dealt with by military law."

Though somewhat dissatisfied, the men below dared not say anything more and each withdrew.

Nurhaci understood the feelings of the men below well enough. But this campaign, Nurhaci had no intention of actually taking Shenyang.

The reason was also simple—they simply could not take it. That man Xiong Tingbi was too difficult to deal with. He was not at all like other Ming military officers, who cowered in hiding all day long without ever showing their heads.

If he wanted to annihilate him, he could only resort to a direct assault. But was a city like Shenyang something that could be taken by a casual direct assault?

Even if he could take it by direct assault, how many men would he have to lose?

As for this sortie of his, it was mainly to boost morale. On the other hand, it was also a probe—to see whether Xiong Tingbi truly would not leave Shenyang.

If he truly would not leave Shenyang city, then he could consider doing something else.

Now the Ming army in Liaodong was growing stronger and stronger. He needed more men, and at the same time he needed to take Shenyang as soon as possible, and then take Guangning, sweeping clean the Ming forces in Liaodong.