Chapter 134: Bringing Amusement to Each Other

Fighting and killing, fighting and killing — these goddamn bastards, every last one of them knows nothing but fighting and killing. Can't they use their brains for once? Is that lump stuck on top of their necks just there to make them look a little taller?

But the capable slave he was used to relying on was gone now, so whatever problem Hong Taiji had, he had to figure it out himself.

Since the nonsense Daishan and Amin were spouting was all utterly unreliable, Hong Taiji simply spoke his own mind: "If we raise the entire army, we could certainly crush Joseon and Dongjiang, but our own losses would be anything but small.

And if the Ming forces at Ningyuan and Jinzhou strike at us at the same time, do we just not want Shengjing anymore? When the time comes and we're stranded out there with our whole force cut off, what then?

If we leave men behind, how many should we leave? And who stays to hold the city?"

Amin, who had been bouncing around eagerly just moments before, promptly shut his mouth and said no more. Only Daishan, after pondering for a long while, spoke: "In reply to the Great Khan, the current state of our Great Jin is, in truth, not good at all.

The Ming barbarians have been colluding with Joseon and Ligdan Khan to blockade our Great Jin. At present, apart from buying salt from some Ming barbarians through Ligdan Khan's territory, we have virtually no other supplies whatsoever.

If this drags on, I fear that before our Great Jin can even attack Joseon and Dongjiang, our own situation will already be dire."

After a moment of deliberation, Daishan continued: "In this slave's humble opinion, given the present circumstances, either our Great Jin bows its head and declares itself a vassal to the Ming barbarian Emperor, or we must stake everything on one throw and strike Joseon hard.

Otherwise, the losses we have suffered this winter will simply be impossible to recoup."

Seeing that Daishan had finally stopped playing dumb and had instead laid out the actual situation, Hong Taiji no longer held back either, and came straight to the point: "Elder Brother Daishan speaks true. This is exactly how things stand now — either we fight, or we submit as vassals."

When he reached the word "submit," Hong Taiji let out a cold, mirthless chuckle before continuing: "Never mind whether this Khan can set aside the matter of Hooge and bow to the barbarian Emperor. I fear that even if this Khan wished to submit, the barbarian Emperor would never tolerate it!"

Daishan, hearing this, nodded and said: "The Great Khan is wise. Judging by that barbarian Emperor's conduct last time, he is not one to be trifled with.

When our Great Jin breached the passes before, that barbarian Emperor gained no advantage, and I fear he has already taken it as a supreme humiliation — one can see it clearly from the recent blockade and his precautions against Yuan the Barbarian."

Hong Taiji, however, sneered coldly: "That barbarian Emperor is exceedingly headstrong and self-willed. That day, he actually had the nerve to lead his army in pursuit of this Khan.

Such a grand gesture — this Khan cannot simply forget it. One day, I shall return the barbarian Emperor a grand gesture of my own."

After he finished laughing, Hong Taiji went on: "But let us set that aside for now. Since buying time through submission is impossible, then we simply strike Joseon. Once we have secured supplies from Joseon, we can discuss the next step."

Watching Amin and Dorgon both play dumb and keep silent, Daishan had no choice but to speak first himself: "Great Khan, if we are to send troops against Joseon and Dongjiang, where should we strike first? Do we focus mainly on Joseon or on Dongjiang?

Who is left to guard Shengjing? And how many men should be left behind?"

Hong Taiji said: "If our Great Jin's elite troops all march out, I fear it will give the barbarians an opening.

After all, the fact that the barbarians dared to openly assassinate Ning Wanwo right inside Shengjing City is proof enough that they have been operating in Shengjing for a long time.

This campaign is both to teach Joseon a lesson and to eliminate that dog of a barbarian Mao Wenlong. Therefore, it should be primarily a cavalry force.

We must also leave men at home, to guard against the barbarians being driven to desperate measures and launching a hard assault on Shengjing City."

Hong Taiji had originally intended to leave Dorgon to watch the house, but suddenly he recalled the words the Chongzhen Emperor had cursed at him beneath the walls of the Ming capital, and a wave of revulsion rose in his heart once more.

If he left Dorgon behind, would a patch of steppe as lush as Khorchin sprout atop his own head?

His thoughts having reached this point, Hong Taiji continued: "How about this — since Second Brother Manggultai's health is not very good anyway, we leave Second Brother Manggultai and Dodo to watch the house.

That will also give Second Brother a chance to rest and recuperate properly. The rest of us brothers will go to Joseon together, and after reaching Dongjiang we split into two routes.

What do you say?"

Daishan pondered this for a long while, and finding that there was indeed no better plan, bowed and said: "The Great Khan is wise. With the Plain Blue Banner and the Bordered White Banner present, Shengjing can be assured of safety."

Hong Taiji continued: "For this campaign against Joseon and Dongjiang, we do not necessarily have to conquer them outright. The key lies with Joseon — we must make them pay tribute to our Great Jin.

Last time, we swore a brotherly pact with Joseon's Prince Neungyang, but that wretch doesn't know what's good for him and is still tangled up with the Ming barbarians. We might as well just finish him off this time and install a new King of Joseon."

While Daishan, Amin, Dorgon, and the others were still thinking it over, Hong Taiji went on: "This battle can basically be said to be the one that decides the fate of our Great Jin.

If we lose, never mind anything else — the Ming barbarians' blockade alone will be enough to weaken our Great Jin into decline. If we win, just the population and provisions we gain will be sufficient to sustain our Great Jin in a war of attrition against the Ming barbarians.

Therefore, we can only win; we cannot lose. I hope all my brothers will unite their hearts and exert their utmost strength to fight this crucial battle well."

Daishan, Amin, and the others bowed together and said: "The Great Khan is wise! Your slaves will fight to the death!"

Just as Hong Taiji and his pack of Jianzhou barbarians were plotting their attack on Joseon, Mao Wenlong, who had long been preparing at Dongjiang to make trouble for the Jianzhou barbarians, had already taken the initiative to march his troops out, heading for Tongyuan Fort to bring the Jianzhou barbarians a little amusement.

In truth, on a map, a tiny fort like Tongyuan Fort is hardly conspicuous at all. If one does not look carefully, one might not even notice such a place exists.

Yet in Liaodong, Tongyuan Fort was of critical importance — it could even be called the first gateway from the direction of Joseon and Dongjiang into the territory of the Jianzhou barbarians.

The former Southern Four Garrisons had not only been sold off by Liu Xingzuo, but had also been torched into a scorched wasteland by Mao Wenlong and Liu Xingzuo together, putting them even farther from the Jianzhou barbarians' core territory.

If the barbarians garrisoned them heavily, their own supply lines would be stretched endlessly; with attrition piling up, the Jianzhou barbarians' national strength at this point simply could not sustain it.

If they did not send heavy troops, given Mao Wenlong's temperament, he could strike at any moment — and with the Jianzhou barbarians startled three times a night, life would become unlivable.

Adhering to the grand philosophy of the later Pockmarked Emperor, the Sacred Ancestor of the Manchu Qing — since this worthless patch of land is tasteless to eat and a pity to discard, just like Nerchinsk and Yaksa, throw it away and be done with it — the Jianzhou barbarians simply relocated the entire population of the Southern Four Garrisons, Manchu and Han alike, to the Liaoyang and Benxi areas.

As for the Southern Four Garrisons themselves, they simply abandoned them.

And what of those who refused to relocate to Liaoyang and Benxi? Simple. Our Great Qing has knives in hand — all who refuse to move can just go die.

So it was that out of the several hundred thousand people of the Southern Four Garrisons, no more than thirty to fifty thousand were left after the slaughter. The rest all became wronged souls under the Jianzhou barbarians' blades.

Overslept… The Tyrant has already issued a statement, formally abandoning all website-building side jobs.

Aside from the two existing ones, I'm not taking a single new side job — focusing solely on writing. More to come in a bit.

As long as the average subscriptions don't drop below 3,000, the Tyrant will keep updating. After posting this chapter, the average subscriptions stand at 3,228, so I'm continuing to update.

(End of Chapter)