Chapter 383: A Malady of the Heart and Belly

"The Bordered Blue Banner Regional Commander Ma Guangyuan humbly memorializes: The Mandate of Heaven is no ordinary thing — it bestows itself only upon virtue... With reverence I consider His Imperial Majesty, brilliant and enlightened, wise and perceptive, resolute and decisive, benevolent and astute. Since gaining all of Liaodong in one stroke, with one move his might shook Yanjing; with a second move his wisdom captured Grand Commander Zu. The Chahar Khan fled far at the sight of his campaign banners; the King of Korea, recognizing the turn of events, sued for peace. Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng of Dengzhou broke through encirclement and braved every danger to come submit — had it not been Heaven's will upon His Majesty, how could mere human effort have brought this about? Now our Great Jin holds all of Liaodong, yet Regional Commander Chen of Dengzhou and Laizhou has seized Jinzhou and Lüshun, while the island bandits of Dongjiang swarm and lurk among the sea islands. Whenever our great army marches out, they scatter and hide across southern and eastern Liaodong, harassing the common people of our Great Jin, like a thorn piercing the back. At this moment when the Central Plains are in turmoil, it is precisely the season for His Majesty to establish his foundation and settle his enterprise — yet we are tethered by these two bands of southerners, confined to guarding a single corner, letting slip a golden opportunity to seize the throne. Truly lamentable. Among these, Jinzhou and Lüshun have stout walls and deep moats, holding the defiles and commanding the strategic passes. In my humble judgment, the Jinzhou–Lüshun position held by Regional Commander Chen of Dengzhou and Laizhou is truly a malady of the heart and belly. I prostrate myself and beseech His Majesty to launch a grand punitive expedition, to eradicate it without fail and thereby secure the foundation for ten thousand generations."

In the Great Governance Hall of Shenyang, a Han official knelt on the floor, speaking in a loud voice. He was Ma Guangyuan, the Ming Assistant Regional Commander who had surrendered at Yongping in the third year of the Chongzhen reign. He now served as Elite Troops Commander of the Ujen Cooha — the Ujen Cooha's Banner Commander, Tong Yangxing, had died of illness, and a new Regional Commander had yet to be appointed. Ma Guangyuan was one of the contenders. Originally, by history's course, Shi Tingzhu would have succeeded to the post, but Shi Tingzhu had been routed by a few dozen Ming soldiers at the battle of Fuzhou, utterly disgracing the Later Jin army's face. He had now been demoted to Mobile Corps Commander and no longer even had the standing to attend this council.

The great hall was packed with people. Besides the Eight Banner Lords, there were the Eight Banner Commanders and the Sixteen Grand Ministers, as well as the Mongol Left and Right Wing Banner Commanders, who attended but did not speak. Each had his own thoughts, and none ventured rashly to speak out.

Huang Taiji swept his gaze across the hall. In mid-May he had received intelligence from Dengzhou that Chen Xin had personally led his troops to Henan — a force of roughly five thousand men. Huang Taiji certainly did not imagine that Chen Xin would be killed by refugees. The sixth and seventh months were also the agricultural slack season in Liaodong. He considered this an excellent opportunity to root out Jinzhou and Lüshun.

He had privately consulted the various beile and banner commanders. A great many of them were unwilling to go to southern Liaodong; they all hoped to campaign in western Liaodong this year — strike fast and withdraw fast. Thus Huang Taiji had been unable to move, and only now, after dragging on, had he persuaded the majority of the banner lords. Today he brought it before the Deliberative Council to forge a consensus. This Ma Guangyuan was merely a mouthpiece he had found.

The two stools beside Huang Taiji still had not been removed; Daišan and Manggūltai still sat alongside him. Huang Taiji first asked Daišan. Daišan had been in poor health lately. Somewhat listlessly, he said, "Fight we should, I suppose. That place, Jinzhou — fallen into the hands of this Chen Xin, it is even more vexing than Mao Wenlong ever was. Every few days he comes raiding Fuzhou for forage. But to strike Jinzhou and Lüshun, too few men will not do, and the real difficulty is provisions and fodder. Back then, it was I who swept Fuzhou clean — not a living soul for a hundred li. Last year some of the post stations and forts were restored, but the population is still sparse, and then Chen Xin came and burned everything. Fuzhou's grain harvest was meager, and little has been planted this year either. Once our great army marches in, there will be nowhere to plunder. We will end up in the same predicament as at Dalinghe."

The men below began murmuring among themselves. These banner lords and ministers each had their own niru under them; they all managed both military and civil affairs together. So for every campaign, they had to calculate whether it was worth the cost.

Huang Taiji, his gaze fixed on the floor, said evenly, "Then Second Brother's view is that he approves of fighting, only he worries about provisions and fodder. What does the Third Beile say?"

Manggūltai gave a cough, cleared his throat, then stopped and said nothing. In the early days after Huang Taiji first ascended the throne, he had addressed him as Fifth Brother, his manner extremely deferential. After the incident last year, the conflict between the two had come to the surface. Manggūltai now kept a low profile, doing his utmost not to give Huang Taiji any handle against him. But when an opportunity to make things difficult for Huang Taiji arose, he was not one to be vague about it either.

For a long while he did not open his mouth, until everyone in the hall looked up at him. Only then did Manggūltai say expressionlessly, "Second Brother says we should fight. I too say that is the right of it. Whoever says we should not fight, let him go guard Fuzhou in the latter half of the year. Last year I and the Fourteenth guarded Fuzhou, and I can say I know the harm of Jinzhou thoroughly. Those Dengzhou soldiers are not like the Guan-Ning forces; even in open battle they did not fall short, and they gave little Fourteen a thorough beating. If they are holed up inside their city, then we would have no choice but to empty the entire realm to go. However — our Plain Blue Banner and little Fourteen's Bordered White Banner both had our vitality badly damaged; we cannot contribute many troops."

Both men approved of fighting, but one was unwilling to provide grain, and the other did not even want to contribute troops, while also dragging in Dorgon for good measure — that made three banners right there. Dorgon kept his head lowered below; his true thoughts were not yet discernible. Huang Taiji remained composed. After all, there were over thirty people here now, not merely the eight of the old Eight Prince Council days.

Huang Taiji called on Yoto by name: "Beile Yoto, you are the Minister of War. Matters of military deployment properly fall under your purview. What is your view?"

Yoto rose and said, "In reply to the Great Khan, your slave believes that attacking Jinzhou is precisely timely. Back when Mao Wenlong was at Dongjiang, I never dared to stay far away for long. Only after the Dongjiang garrison was shattered could we enter the passes or campaign far against the Chahar. Since Chen Xin suddenly seized Jinzhou at the time of Dalinghe, he has incessantly harassed Fuzhou with light cavalry and scattered troops on ordinary days, and the moment our main army marches far afield, he bullies our scant forces and descends on Fuzhou with heavy troops. Yet Fuzhou cannot be left unguarded. If we abandon Fuzhou and leave, then everything south of Gaizhou will fall into enemy hands. When that time comes, shall we abandon Gaizhou as well? Now Fuzhou can neither be held nor abandoned, all because of that single Dengzhou force at Jinzhou and Lüshun. According to reports from Fuzhou's scouts, their cavalry already exceeds two thousand. If we do not destroy them soon, and this cavalry force grows even stronger, how shall we deal with it then? Word has come that the Dengzhou garrison troops have gone to Henan to fight the rebels, so the troops in Dengzhou and Laizhou must be few. This is a heaven-sent opportunity; to let it slip would be a pity."

The youngest, Dodo, suddenly spoke up and asked, "Beile Yoto, what if we learn from those Guan-Ning barbarians and simply defend inside Fuzhou city? Surely they wouldn't dare bypass Fuzhou."

"It held last time — but can it hold every time?" Yoto replied. "When the Dengzhou soldiers attacked us during the Yanjing campaign, they still used matchlock arquebuses and crouching-tiger cannons, and their cavalry numbered no more than one or two hundred. By the time we reached Shenmi Island, we saw self-igniting firelocks and small bronze cannons. By Jinzhou, they fielded cavalry and short guns. By Fuzhou, their cavalry had already surpassed a thousand, and their infantry battalions brought large bronze cannons. They failed to take Fuzhou in one assault — who knows what things they will produce next time? Whether Fuzhou can hold is still an unknown."

Dodo furrowed his brow, then shook his head and said, "True enough. These barbarians are strange indeed. But I really would like to go see for myself. Since everyone says we should go, then I too approve of going."

Jirgalang said loudly, "Your slave also approves of striking Jinzhou. This pack of Nikan always seizes the moment when our Great Jin is off guard and comes up to take a bite. Now they are entrenched in Jinzhou, and whenever they have the chance, they pounce and take another bite. Once their cavalry grows more numerous in the future, they will bite this year and bite again next year. If every man hopes to dodge it, in the end no one will be able to dodge it, and in the meantime they will have damaged the prestige of our Great Jin."

Some of the younger officers below began nodding in agreement. Huang Taiji too nodded repeatedly as he listened. Once these few trusted henchmen spoke up, the tone was nothing like the lethargy of the two old beile; the pro-war voices gained the upper hand.

Manggūltai stood up, pointed at Sahaliyan, and said, "Sahaliyan, you manage the Ministry of Revenue. What about the matter of provisions and fodder?"

Sahaliyan stepped forward, but faced Huang Taiji. Only after Huang Taiji nodded did he reply, "In reply to the Great Khan, last year Liaodong suffered both floods and drought; grain is indeed somewhat tight. At present, what is sold on the market costs three taels and five mace of silver per shi. But that is still far better than the hardest years."

Manggūltai cut him off: "Spare us that. How much can the Ministry of Revenue put forward?"

Sahaliyan paid him no heed, standing in the center without speaking. Manggūltai had a fiery temper. Now fury blazed in his heart. He stomped forward two steps, about to go over and strike Sahaliyan. Behind him, Daišan suddenly coughed. Manggūltai halted abruptly, glared fiercely at Sahaliyan a few times, and returned to his seat.

After Manggūltai sat down, he shot meaningful glances at his younger brother Degelei below. Degelei cautiously glanced at the others, stepped out halfway, then hesitated and immediately retreated back.

Huang Taiji noticed Degelei's movement and asked evenly, "What insight does Degelei have? By all means speak. Why be so sparing with words, only to swallow them back again?"

Stammering, Degelei said, "Your slave... your slave had not thought it through for the moment, and so retreated back."

Huang Taiji said coldly, "In the future, if you have not thought it through, do not step forward. A commander ought to have a well-formed plan in his chest beforehand; otherwise, how can he command the obedience of the masses?"

By now Manggūltai was no longer interested in discussing whether to go or not; he wanted to deliberately make things difficult for Huang Taiji. Seeing that Degelei was useless, he himself asked Yoto, "May I ask Beile Yoto, you say four or five thousand Dengzhou troops have gone to Henan. How many troops does Dengzhou have in total? How many troops are at Lüshun and how many at Jinzhou? Exactly how many troops must we send?"

Yoto respectfully addressed Manggūltai: "In reply to the Third Beile, the Nikan at Dengzhou have thirty to forty thousand troops, but not every battalion is as battle-worthy as the one at Lüshun. Jinzhou has roughly two thousand, mostly cavalry, half of whom ride to battle but fight on foot — they are called dragoons. They are the same force that intercepted the Fourteenth Beile at the Fuzhou river crossing last year. Lüshun has one battalion, roughly four thousand, with about five thousand laborers. According to intelligence we have gathered in Dengzhou, observing the various Dengzhou battalions, several battalions have uniforms vastly different from the other garrison troops, and their drill methods are also different. From this we estimate that Chen Xin's own troops number about five or six battalions. You all should know that when Kong Youde was at Dengzhou, the Wendeng battalion had only four thousand men, yet in a mere year and a half it has grown to around twenty thousand. Here it must also be mentioned that Chen Xin is a man whose thoughts are hard to fathom. He has been secretly training troops at various forts and villages across Dengzhou and Laizhou; their numbers are difficult to estimate, but they should be between twenty and thirty thousand. At present, the troop strength in southern Liaodong is still not large. If we allow him to establish farms and train troops at Jinzhou, within two years Jinzhou too will become untakable."

A buzzing sound immediately arose in the assembly hall. Many of them had previously only known that the Dengzhou garrison could fight, but this was the first time they had heard of the Dengzhou garrison's rate of expansion. By comparison, the growth rate of the Later Jin army was far inferior to that of the Dengzhou troops. After being ambushed by Dengzhou two years in a row, the true Jurchen numbers even showed a declining trend. Many began to set aside their own little calculations and listened seriously to Yoto.

Daišan frowned and asked, "Yoto, is this intelligence of yours reliable? Chen Xin is a mere Regional Commander — where would he get so much silver to support troops?" He then looked at Ma Guangyuan. "Regional Commander Ma, back when you were in the Ming realm, did anyone dare to support troops like this?"

Ma Guangyuan buried his head in thought for a long moment, then shook his head. "If it is as Beile Yoto says, that Chen Xin has twenty thousand regular troops alone, an ordinary Regional Commander could absolutely never afford to support that many soldiers. The military pay he receives amounts to no more than one regular battalion. Your slave has pondered this exhaustively and cannot fathom it. Perhaps... those who attacked Fuzhou were all his retainers? But that would still be far too many."

After hearing this, Yoto said to Daišan, "Ama, the intelligence from Dengzhou all comes from a single reliable source, and has been verified through some private smuggling vessels. These matters are not terribly difficult to inquire about in Dengzhou. Regardless of where his silver comes from, his troop numbers are indeed that large."

Now even Manggūltai drew a sharp breath. Setting aside any further thought of making trouble for Huang Taiji, he asked Yoto earnestly, "In that case, have the conditions around Jinzhou and Lüshun all been thoroughly scouted? Jinzhou is one thing — our scouts can still go there regularly — but what does Lüshun look like now?"

Yoto shook his head. "Lüshun presents real difficulties. Jinzhou and Nanguan have two Nikan defense lines, with cavalry exceeding two thousand; our scouts cannot get through. According to those smuggling vessels, aside from military ships, no other vessels are permitted to enter Lüshun harbor. They have only picked up scattered bits of news in Dengzhou. It is said that those Nikan have expanded Lüshun city, and have also built trench walls along the mountains. They have a great abundance of all kinds of firearms. Beyond that, little is clear."

When Manggūltai heard this, he recalled the force he had seen at Fuzhou and immediately felt a severe headache coming on. At the time, he had gone to inspect the positions at the Niangniang Palace landing ground. Those had been constructed in just two days, and he had already felt they would be difficult to deal with. Now this same force was holed up in a position that had been long prepared — he did not even know how one would go about attacking it.

The men below were all talking at once. Among them, Dorgon gently shook his head. He had been struck the hardest by the Dengzhou garrison, and no one understood this army's combat power better than he did. Merely drawn up in battle formation, they had given Dorgon a sense of being nearly unshakable. Add a city wall on top of that, and Dorgon would find it very hard to summon the courage to attack.

Amid the buzzing, Huang Taiji slowly rose to his feet. One by one, the others noticed and immediately stopped talking. All watched this Later Jin Khan in silence, awaiting his decision. (To be continued...)

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