Chapter 192: The Chongzhen Emperor Prepares to Flee

You couldn't really blame Manggultai for sending Degelei rushing off to Dongjiang with a message in such a frantic hurry — the truth was, he had no confidence he could hold Shengjing either.

Back in the day, the old Khan Nurhaci of the Great Jin had beaten the Yehe Nine Tribes like dead dogs — who could have imagined that today they'd rise from the ashes and become some damn Sibe Eight Tribes!

Throw in an Oba Taiji, useless when it comes to real business but a master at shooting his mouth off, and the whole thing just got messier and messier.

Looking at the messenger from Oba Taiji before him, Manggultai said helplessly, "Rest easy. The Great Khan has already been notified. Once the Great Khan returns with the army, he'll certainly deal with those bastards of the Sibe tribe."

The messenger wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said in a trembling voice, "My Lord Beile, it's not just the Sibe tribe — there are also the Ming barbarians. They're already bearing down on Shengjing."

Manggultai grew even more irritated. You think I don't know this already — do I need you repeating it to me? His impatience mounting, he said, "I already know about this. Isn't it just Zhao Shuaijiao and Man Gui and that lot? Ming barbarians — not worth worrying about."

The messenger wanted to say more, but seeing that Manggultai had already picked up his teacup, he had no choice but to take his leave and go back to report to Oba Taiji.

Borjigin Oba, upon receiving the messenger's reply, was quite optimistic.

Watching Budaqi pacing back and forth, Oba glared at him and said, "What are you panicking for!"

Seeing Oba still looking utterly unruffled, Budaqi let out a "Heh!" and said, "Elder Brother, it's not just those Sibe bastards anymore — even the Ming army is bearing down on us. What are we going to do when it comes to it? A fierce tiger can't hold off a pack of wolves!"

Oba simply took a sip of fermented mare's milk, smacked his lips in satisfaction, and said, "What's there to fear? As long as Hong Taiji returns to Shengjing with his army, this whole thing blows over. No need to panic."

At these words, Budaqi stopped his pacing, crossed to Oba in a few strides, and reached out to snatch the wine bowl from Oba's hand.

Seeing Oba dodge him easily, Budaqi sighed.

"Elder Brother!

I know all that you're saying. But what if Hong Taiji doesn't come back with his army?

Then we'll have to face the remnants of the Yehe Nine Tribes and the Ming barbarians alone? You don't really think a scrap of paper alliance treaty will make the Great Jin throw everything aside to come save us Khorchin, do you?"

At this, Oba stopped drinking. He set down the wine bowl and said to Budaqi, "Use your head. What does the Great Jin lack most?"

Budaqi curled his lip. "Grain and slaves — what else would they be short of?"

Oba, however, smiled. "On the surface, you're not wrong. But in reality, neither of those is what the Great Jin lacks most."

Budaqi asked curiously, "What is it, then?"

Oba laughed. "Think about it. If you've got no grain and no slaves, you just go raid for them. Even for us Khorchin, let alone the Great Jin — going out and raiding isn't that big a deal, is it?"

Budaqi nodded in agreement. After all, cavalry came and went like the wind — raid and run. If you really were short on grain and slaves, you just took a trip over to the Ming barbarians' territory and grabbed as much as you could carry back.

Just as Budaqi was wondering where this was going, he heard Oba continue, "But to go raiding, you need cavalry, and cavalry requires warhorses — plus draft horses to haul the loot. Otherwise, what, you have men pull it? How much could you carry that way?"

"The Great Jin today is not what it once was. It lacks grain, lacks slaves — but it lacks warhorses even more. If we Khorchin were wiped out by the Yehe remnants, even if Hong Taiji had the power to reach heaven and earth, he'd have nowhere to get that many warhorses."

"So no matter what, the Great Jin has to protect us Khorchin. As for that alliance treaty — when it's useful, you pull it out; when it's not, it's nothing but a scrap of waste paper. Who really takes that thing seriously?"

"Don't take my word for it — just look at that fool Ligdan Khan. Beaten like a dead dog by the Ming barbarians now, isn't he going to have to slink back to the steppe to lick his wounds? The Ming barbarians and Ligdan Khan are supposed to be allies — you see anyone taking that seriously?"

Oba's speech finally made Budaqi catch on. "So you're saying the Great Jin will definitely send troops to save us? But can Hong Taiji really give up such a good opportunity and not strike Dongjiang?"

Oba sneered.

"Strike Dongjiang, my ass.

If he could take it, he'd have come back victorious with his army long ago. He still hasn't taken Dongjiang — dragging it out any longer is pointless.

But without us Khorchin, whether he can even hold Shengjing going forward is the question. To put it bluntly, his Great Jin and our Khorchin are grasshoppers tied to the same string — neither can do without the other!"

Budaqi pressed on. "Fine. Say Hong Taiji will definitely bring his army back to save us Khorchin — but what about right now? The old thief Wanyan of the Sibe tribe is right at our doorstep, Elder Brother!"

Oba, still smiling, said, "Same as before — no need to panic. If they wiped us Khorchin out, it wouldn't do them any good either.

Without Khorchin, would the Ming barbarians still take them seriously? Without Khorchin, the Great Jin's gaze would turn toward them — and when that happened, would they be confident they could win?"

"Judging by the Wanyan barbarians' movements so far, they're only encircling us to force the Great Jin to come to the rescue — using that to relieve the siege on the Ming barbarians' Dongjiang.

As soon as the Great Jin Khan's relief force arrives, they'll naturally withdraw. Can't you see it just from the way they've been surrounding us without attacking these past two days?"

Budaqi said defiantly, "Fine, you make sense. But what about Man Gui, that traitor to the Mongols, and Zhao Shuaijiao the barbarian? They're not that old fox Wanyan Hong, are they?"

Oba suddenly felt the frustration of seeing iron that refused to become steel. This younger brother of his was fine in every way — his brain was just too thick. "Are you stupid? What about Man Gui and Zhao Shuaijiao?"

"Think about it — do the Ming barbarians right now have the strength to fight a decisive great battle with the Great Jin?

If they don't want to force the Great Jin into a fight to the death with their Ming, they won't dare to really do anything to us. Put it this way: even if we fenced off our grazing lands and did nothing at all, they still wouldn't actually wipe us out!"

"Unless that little Ming Emperor came in person. That one's got no brains — if he showed up, who knows what he might do. But there's no word of him coming to Liaodong, so there's no need to panic at all!"

It had to be said, Oba Taiji's analysis was spot-on. Because the Chongzhen Emperor had not gone to Liaodong, none of the remaining men — Sun Chengzong and the rest — had the nerve to push the Jianzhou barbarians into a desperate, all-or-nothing decisive battle.

Sun Chengzong and the others were clear in their own minds: the Great Ming of the present truly did not have the strength to fight a grinding death-match with the Jianzhou barbarians in Liaodong.

As for that "little Ming Emperor" Chongzhen whom Oba Taiji had spoken of — at this very moment, he was figuring that, with the Empress still a few months away from giving birth, he'd seize the chance to slip out and run wild for a bit.

Since the Liaodong personal expedition was off the table for now, he couldn't just stay cooped up doing nothing at all, could he?

Going to court every day and listening to the ministers spout nonsense was no good. They'd only let him hear what they wanted him to hear. As for what they didn't want him to hear, there were plenty of things that even the Depot and the Guard might fail to pick up.

Just like a man of later ages who, once he's gotten used to running wild, doesn't like staying home — the Chongzhen Emperor also felt that staying in the Forbidden City was utterly dull. Anyway, he just had to find an excuse to get out and roam.

As for going out in search of pleasure and women, the Chongzhen Emperor didn't have much interest in that. After all, the girls in his own household were each more beautiful than the last — which one wasn't brimming with charm and excelling in her own way?

It was just that lately, every time the Chongzhen Emperor received a memorial from Ma Weiyin, the Prefect of Xi'an, his head ached — and right after that, the urge to chop someone's head off grew stronger and stronger.

There was never anything else in those memorials. Either it was drought here, or no rain there, or the grain in such-and-such a place wasn't enough to eat again. In short, it was always one single thing: hand outstretched, asking for money, asking for relief.

Having endured it until today, the Chongzhen Emperor decided he'd had enough. To hell with it — he'd go to the Xi'an area and take a look for himself.

He'd see just where in the hell all that grain had actually gone. Never mind that the national treasury didn't have much money — even if it held mountains of gold and silver, it couldn't withstand this kind of embezzlement.

Every last one of them was busy lining their own pockets — did none of them stop to think that the common folk, with no way left to survive, might one day chew them up and swallow them down without even dipping them in soy sauce first!

No question about it — this time he was definitely going to go see. See just how many more death-courting wretches there were, and send the whole lot of them on their way!

(End of chapter)