Chapter 63

And you, Huang Taiji, are nothing more than a corner of Liaodong and Liaoxi!

As soon as Fan Fan Wencheng's voice fell.

The Great Administration Hall immediately fell into a deathly silence.

Finally, Huang Taiji slowly sat down, gritting his teeth as he whispered in a low voice.

"Then what should this Khan do now?"

Fan Fan Wencheng said with decisive certainty.

"Whatever the Great Khan ought to do, just do it!"

"Reorganize the army, prepare for war, and gather provisions!"

"We must fight desperate battles and stubborn battles; as long as we grind these hundred thousand Ming troops down in Liaoxi, even if it drags on for a long time, our Great Jin will have won!"

Fan Fan Wencheng saw the situation with absolute clarity.

Even if Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian had scraped together a huge sum of silver, what of it?

No matter how much one praised silver to the heavens, it was ultimately just a pile of rocks.

It could neither be eaten nor drunk.

Due to years of natural disasters, the Great Ming simply could not produce enough grain and fodder.

Therefore, as long as the conflict dragged on.

The Ming army was bound to lose!

Speaking to this point.

Fan Fan Wencheng suddenly seemed to think of something.

Then, looking at Huang Taiji, he whispered in a low voice.

"Great Khan, perhaps it is time for you to do another thing."

Hearing this, Huang Taiji was stunned.

"What matter?"

Fan Fan Wencheng said in a low voice with an expressionless face.

"Formally assume the honorable title early!"

Upon hearing these four words.

Huang Taiji's vision immediately became blurred.

Proclaim himself Emperor?!

Fan Fan Wencheng continued to report respectfully.

"Matters have come to this; victory is victory, defeat is defeat; in this battle, everyone in our Great Jin must exert their utmost effort."

"The reason Ming Taizu delayed proclaiming himself King was because Chen Chen Youliang was to the west, Zhang Zhang Shicheng to the east, and Fang Guozhen to the north."

"The attention of the former Northern Northern Yuan was not focused on Ming Taizu, thus the matter of proclaiming himself Emperor needed to be postponed."

"At present, the entire court of the Great Ming clearly regards our Great Jin as a threat to its very heart."

"Since the Great Khan has nowhere left to hide, you must give the soldiers and common people of all Liaodong a proper status!"

Since the First Emperor founded the nation and swept away the six states over sixteen hundred years ago, the erosion of imperial power upon the people of the world has reached an unimaginable degree.

As long as you, Huang Taiji, do not proclaim yourself Emperor, in the eyes of the gentry and scholars of all Liaodong, you are one level below the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming.

In the end, you are merely a warlord entrenched beyond the pass.

No matter what, they need to leave some face for the Son of Heaven.

And if one wishes to make them exert their maximum effort for one's own cause.

The most critical element is that seemingly worthless 'honorable title'!

In the vast ocean of historical records, this small 'honorable title' has played the role of the final straw too many times!

In an instant, a fire seemed to burn within Huang Taiji's eyes.

65, Fan Fan Wencheng: This subject knows nothing of military affairs, but this subject knows the Great Ming!

As soon as Fan Fan Wencheng spoke these words.

Dorgon, Kong Kong Youde, and Badali immediately realized the implication.

They looked at Huang Taiji in unison and shouted loudly.

"We, your subjects, kowtow and beg the Great Khan to promptly assume the honorable title!"

Huang Taiji stood alone within the Great Administration Hall.

He gave no response.

Nor did he object.

At certain times.

Often, having no attitude is the clearest attitude of all!

At dawn the next day.

The Manchu Beile, the Mongol Eight Banners Ejen, Kong Kong Youde, Shang Kexi, Geng Jingzhong, along with Fan Fan Wencheng and other civil officials, gathered outside the palace gates.

Dorgon held a memorial in Manchu script, Kong Kong Youde held a memorial in Han script, and Badali held a memorial in Mongol script; leading ministers of the Manchu, Han, and Mongol peoples, they entered the palace through the three arched gates of the palace entrance to urge the accession.

After three refusals and three yieldings.

Huang Taiji, clad in dragon robes, led the hundred officials out of the city to sacrifice to Heaven amidst the mountainous cries of 'Long Live Your Majesty' from the cluster of ministers.

He established the national title as Great Qing, changed the era name to Chongde, and ascended the throne of the Son of Heaven!

By this time.

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian and Huang Taiji were like gamblers who had gone red-eyed with killing.

Both men had brought all their chips and headed straight for the table of this gamble.

—Dalinghe.

Ever since the imperial decree arrived from Shengjing.

The Later Jin troops defending Dalinghe had already replaced their great banner; the "Qing" character flag and the Eight Banners standards now fluttered atop the city walls in the wind.

All this news had already reached the ears of Hong Hong Chengchou, the Viceroy of Jiliao.

Inside the central command tent, Hong Hong Chengchou stared fixedly at the map of Dalinghe before him.

Behind Hong Hong Chengchou stood the eight Regional Commanders of the Great Ming.

"Where have the naval ships reached?"

A general behind him, whose youthful innocence had not yet faded, immediately cupped his fists and reported:

"Reporting to the Regional Commander, the naval fleet of one hundred and fifty warships has already arrived at the mouth of the Dalinghe River."

Hong Hong Chengchou snatched the command flag from before him and fiercely slammed it onto the sand table in front of the assembled generals.

"Yang Li Guozhu, Wu Wu Sangui, Li Fuming, hear my order!"

"Your subordinates are present!"

"The three of you shall each lead your own troops, effective immediately, to surround Dalinghe; all units are to encircle but not attack, and no one is permitted to engage the enemy without authorization!"

"Yes!"

"Wang Pu, Tang Tong, Cao Cao Bianjiao, Bai Bai Guangen, hear my order!"

"Your subordinates are present!"

"The four of you shall immediately lead your own troops to take the route via the river mouth and force a crossing of the Ling River; within three days, you must ensure all forces have completely crossed the Ling River!"

"Yes!"

Hong Hong Chengchou had completely abandoned the hesitation that had marked his historical counterpart.

Instead, he had adopted Huang Taiji's old tactic.

That was to first surround Dalinghe, then lure the main Qing force to its aid, and decide the battle against the enemy in the open field.

A classic tactic of besieging a point to strike the reinforcements.

Such a tactic was not actually beyond the capability of Ming generals to implement.

Rather, once one chose to besiege a point to strike reinforcements, it inevitably meant choosing close-quarters engagement and fighting the enemy in the open field.

Open-field warfare happened to be the Ming army's greatest weakness.

Therefore, most Ming generals discarded this approach, often opting instead to crush their opponents through sheer overwhelming numbers.

But this time, Hong Hong Chengchou was different.

Every single troop participating in this campaign for the Ming army consisted of elite forces from the Nine Borders, paid in full silver and full rations.

Hundreds of thousands of taels of bright white silver had been poured into their armor and weapons alone.