Chapter 467: Daišan's Strategy

Since Daišan had put it that way, what more could Hong Taiji say?

He nodded and said, "Then, Eldest Brother, let him come in."

Daišan also nodded and waved his hand toward those behind him.

Before long, a man walked in from outside.

One could tell at a glance that the newcomer looked travel-worn, and that he had suffered no small amount of hardship and bitterness — he appeared utterly bedraggled.

Upon seeing Hong Taiji, Agutai fell to his knees with a "plop" and said with a mournful face, "Great Khan!"

Seeing this man, Hong Taiji first widened his eyes, then asked in disbelief, "You are Agutai?"

"Yes, Great Khan. It's me." Agutai hurriedly said, "This time at Zhangjiakou, all of our people were finished. Only the three of us escaped, and even then it was a narrow brush with death — we almost didn't make it back."

"What happened?" Hong Taiji looked at Agutai and asked, "Where is Irgen Gioro?"

"He's dead." Agutai said with a mournful face, "The Great Ming Emperor suddenly went to Zhangjiakou and arrested everyone there, even the merchants who did business with us."

"Now all those people have had their households confiscated. We were trapped inside the city of Zhangjiakou and couldn't get out, and Irgen Gioro was also seized. Although I wasn't captured, I barely escaped the manhunt."

"Later, because the Great Ming Emperor left, I was able to flee from Zhangjiakou. I rushed straight here to see the Great Khan without daring the slightest delay."

"The Great Ming Emperor actually went to Zhangjiakou?" Hong Taiji said with a somewhat grim expression, "Then is that route no longer viable from now on?"

"The business there is still going on, but the people have changed — it's no longer those merchants doing business, but other merchants instead. We can't even get a word in with them, and the trade is being run by a Ming government office called the Imperial Household Department."

"If we spend money to re-establish connections, it will still take a long time, and who knows whether it will even work."

As Agutai said all this, the expression on his face was very ugly.

In fact, this was even the softened version he was telling Hong Taiji.

In Agutai's view, this matter was simply hopeless — those people from the Imperial Household Department would absolutely never dare to do such a thing.

The merchants of Zhangjiakou, without even asking, one knew their fate would be miserable. With those people serving as a deterrent, no one would dare cooperate with their side for a long time to come.

And this wasn't even the key point — because once the Great Ming Emperor's scheme succeeded, their side would have even less chance of ever going to Zhangjiakou again.

Hong Taiji's expression was very grim — this way, life would become even harder.

"Great Khan, this isn't even the worst of it." Agutai looked at Hong Taiji with an even uglier expression and said, "The Khorchin and Great Ming have formed an alliance."

Hearing this, Hong Taiji was finally greatly alarmed. He stood up and looked at Agutai in disbelief, asking directly, "Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course it's true." Agutai nodded and said, "This matter has already spread throughout Zhangjiakou."

"Couldn't it just be a trick by the Ming?" Hong Taiji said, still unwilling to accept it.

If the news of Zhangjiakou being sealed off had already added frost to snow for Hong Taiji, then the news of the Khorchin allying with Great Ming was enough to be fatal.

Agutai dared not conceal anything — he recounted everything, then raised his head and looked at Hong Taiji miserably, saying, "For the sake of this news, Irgen Gioro could have left, but he chose not to."

"Moreover, the Khorchin have already married Bumbutai to the Great Ming Emperor — many people know of this matter as well."

"How is this possible?" Hong Taiji said in disbelief, "How could the Great Ming Emperor marry a Khorchin woman? This shouldn't be."

Hong Taiji still couldn't quite believe it.

After all, for so many years, the Great Ming Emperor had never done such a thing. If the Great Ming Emperor were easy to compromise with, he wouldn't have ended up in his current predicament.

Even if the Great Ming Emperor wanted to do this, what about everyone else? Would the Ming ministers agree?

Daišan looked at Hong Taiji and said directly, "Great Khan, if this matter is true, then we may be in trouble. If Great Ming and the Khorchin form an alliance, our road to the west will be blocked off."

In fact, ever since Nurhaci's time, the Jurchen had already formulated a strategy.

To the west, subdue the Mongol tribes and make them ally with themselves. And after allying for a period of time, find ways to swallow them up. Only thus could they strengthen themselves.

The Jurchen were few in number to begin with — dealing with Great Ming was simply impossible. Only by uniting the Mongols was there a path to survival, and only by annexing the Mongols could they make their enterprise great.

With Genghis Khan as an example, who wouldn't want to walk that road again? Who wouldn't want to expand their own enterprise?

Nurhaci wanted to, and Hong Taiji wanted to as well — so Hong Taiji deeply understood what he needed to do next.

And to go west, the Khorchin was a very important point. Unite the Khorchin, then unite the Inner Khalkha, and their strength would greatly increase, and they could even advance troops westward.

On this point, Hong Taiji was very clear in his heart.

The reason he married a Khorchin woman was precisely for this — otherwise, he had already married one Jheje, there was no need to marry Bumbutai as well. Plainly put, it was to deepen the alliance between the two sides and consolidate their mutual pact.

And among all the Mongol tribes, Hong Taiji's house had the closest relations with the Khorchin. If the Khorchin turned their face away, that would not be a very good example.

Looking at Daišan, Hong Taiji said directly, "Send someone immediately to contact the Khorchin — I want to know exactly what is going on. If they truly dare to ally with Great Ming, then war will be declared."

This matter, Hong Taiji absolutely would not permit. He absolutely would not permit the Khorchin to ally with Great Ming.

As a result, the situation would be reversed, and his house would be isolated once again. The foundation his father the Khan had accumulated over the years, passed down to his hands — there was no good situation to be had.

Daišan nodded and said, "I will immediately arrange for people to scout out information."

Just at this moment, urgent footsteps suddenly came from outside the door. Then a man with a stern expression walked in.

Hong Taiji and Daišan turned to look together — this man was none other than Manggūltai.

Manggūltai was walking hurriedly at this moment. Entering the room, he saw Daišan and Hong Taiji, and also saw Agutai kneeling on the ground — he knew something had happened here.

But this was not the time to discuss such matters. Manggūltai raised his head and looked at Hong Taiji, saying with a stern expression, "Great Khan, the Ming army is making a move."

"What move?" Hong Taiji looked at Manggūltai and asked in a deep voice.

"The Ming army is mobilizing troops in Liaodong, pulling garrisons from Liaoyang, Shenyang, and other places — all of them are converging on Shenyang. They seem to be preparing to attack Tieling and Qinghe, and the momentum is tremendous."

Hearing this, the faces of the several people in the room all turned very grim.

Ever since the Battle of Shenyang, the Jurchen had pulled back and hunkered down, not going looking for trouble with the Ming.

Clearly, after winning this victory, the Ming had gained confidence — they wanted to attack over here. This situation was dangerous.

"They've come just in time." Daišan, standing to one side, said with a dark expression, "Perfect chance to hit them hard and teach them a lesson."

"After the Battle of Shenyang, their morale soared and they've been making frequent sorties in Liaodong — these days have been unsettled. Since they're attacking, then fine — meet soldiers with soldiers, stem water with earth. We'll annihilate them and teach them what's what. And if the opportunity arises, we can even seize Shenyang and Liaoyang while we're at it."

Hearing this, Manggūltai nodded and quickly stepped forward, saying, "I beg the Great Khan to muster the army and prepare for battle — as long as the Ming army dares to attack, we'll slaughter them to the last man."

Hong Taiji looked at his elder brother and Manggūltai, and said hesitantly, "Things may not be that simple."

Hearing this, Daišan also came to his senses. He glanced at Agutai kneeling on the ground and said, "Indeed, it may really not be that simple — the people of Great Ming should be plotting something."

"What is it? Has something happened?" Manggūltai asked from the side.

This matter naturally could not be concealed, so Daišan told Manggūltai everything about the news Agutai had brought back.

After finishing, Daišan said: "The timing is far too coincidental. No sooner had news arrived here than the Ming army made its move."

"You all know that the Ming army's commander is Xiong Tingbi. This man has always been cunning and treacherous, and he is timid by nature. We have provoked him so many times, yet he never once left the city, only stubbornly defending Shenyang and Liaoyang. He even put on the posture of being willing to fight us to the death. But now he suddenly strikes out — this is completely out of character for him."

"Could the Khorchin actually dare to send troops against us?" Manggūltai said angrily.

In Manggūltai's view, the Khorchin were a bunch of cowards. Never mind fighting Hong Taiji — even if you lent them a thousand guts, they would not dare to send out troops.

They had fought before, hadn't they? But which time had they succeeded? Which time had they not returned in defeat?

So allying with the Ming army gives them courage? Where did they get that courage from?

"We still don't know what this is all about." Hong Taiji said with a grim face: "But there must be some scheme behind this. We cannot act rashly — we must first find out the full picture."

"Manggūltai, take your men and keep watch over every city. Pass down the order: do not rush out. Wait until we have a clear understanding of the situation before acting. Send out plenty of scouts to probe the Ming army's movements."

"As for the Khorchin, send people immediately to investigate. We must ascertain the situation as quickly as possible." Manggūltai nodded.

If things truly had changed somehow, such conduct would naturally be the safest course. Although he looked down on the Khorchin tribe, if they truly had some collusion with the Great Ming — it would absolutely not be a simple matter of joining forces to attack him.

If the Khorchin sent out troops, were they not afraid someone would raid their home base? And what benefit would they gain from joining forces with the Ming army?

What could they gain even if they won?

The Ming army's gratitude? Or the Ming army's money and grain?

The Khorchin were not that stupid.