Chapter 416

Gao Hongzhong's forehead beaded faintly with sweat. He cupped his hands toward Chen Xin and said, "My lord, whatever my lord takes my Great Jin to be, this humble one was ordered to come and parley with my lord. Talking, in the end, benefits everyone. I beg my lord to raise your hand high in mercy and not behead my companions — they, too, are Han people."

Chen Xin shook his head. "Traitors to the Han are naturally still Han. What this official leads are government troops. Anyone who commits crimes is beheaded just the same. If a Jurchen abides by the law, this official will not kill him either."

At that moment a burst of cheering came from outside. Gao Hongzhong, heedless that Chen Xin was mocking him as a Han traitor, could no longer resist turning his head to look. Outside, two heads had already been hoisted high. Both men had been Han officials in the Literary Office, chosen from the last three hundred surviving licentiates in Liaodong. They had escaped purge after purge by the Later Jin, only to die in Lüshun in the end.

Gao Hongzhong's face turned ashen pale. Still, since Chen Xin had received him alone, at least his own head was relatively safe — provided he did not provoke this mild-faced Ming Regional Commander.

After carefully considering his wording, he said, "Since my lord has misgivings about forms of address, this humble one will likewise refer to the Later Jin Khan as my master, and delivering the message will be the same. Let it be regarded as the Great Khan sending a private message to Lord Chen, not involving court protocol."

Chen Xin smiled faintly. "That would be acceptable. However, those men outside all came in the name of the Later Jin state. This official must publicly strike off their heads and send them to the capital for the various ministers to examine, lest this official incur some ambiguous charge that damages his reputation."

Gao Hongzhong cursed inwardly. This Chen Xin left no opening — using those men's heads to demonstrate his loyalty, rousing his officers' and soldiers' morale, and still keeping himself alive to negotiate.

In the future, even if someone mentioned that the Later Jin had sent men to seek peace with Chen Xin, Chen Xin could easily use those heads to fob them off. Another burst of cheers came from outside. Gao Hongzhong gave up any thought of rescuing his companions. They were pretty much all beheaded anyway, and he could not be bothered to waste any more useless words.

Since this was a private message, there was no need for many listeners. Chen Xin nodded to Zhou Shifa beside him, and a group of Intelligence Bureau agents all withdrew, leaving only two guards and Zhou Shifa in the room.

"The Great Khan sent this humble one here to say one thing to Lord Chen: 'When the hares are dead, the hounds are cooked; when the birds are gone, the bows are put away.'"

Chen Xin blinked and looked calmly at Gao Hongzhong, without the slightest trace of pondering. Gao Hongzhong, on the contrary, felt more at ease; he believed Chen Xin had already thought it through long ago.

Gao Hongzhong felt a little tense inside. He watched Chen Xin's expression and continued, "Lord Chen is not one of those idle Liaoxi garrisons that eat free meals, and his army's fighting strength surpasses all in the Ming. If my master were not in Liaodong, my lord would be of no further use to the Ming's Chongzhen Emperor. For my lord and my master to fight to the death benefits no one — why go to such pains?"

"Are you finished?" Chen Xin suddenly asked flatly.

Gao Hongzhong froze for a moment, nodded, then immediately shook his head. "My master went to war with the Ming because the Ming pressed too hard in years past. Now that my lord has taken control of Dengzhou, my master admires my lord and is willing to rule Liaodong jointly with my lord, with Jinzhou as the boundary. So long as my lord nods, the Great Jin army will never advance one step past Jinzhou. Should the day come when Lord Chen contends for the realm, my master is willing to lend troops to my lord, or to coordinate outside the passes. After my lord succeeds in claiming the realm, the Jin state is willing to follow the Korean precedent and treat my lord with the rites of a tributary state…"

Hai Gouzi and Zhou Shifa, standing nearby, both watched Chen Xin out of the corners of their eyes. Chen Xin stared at Gao Hongzhong without speaking, and the atmosphere was rather strange. As Gao Hongzhong spoke, his heart grew more and more hollow, and his voice grew softer toward the end. Chen Xin finally laughed and waved his hand to cut Gao Hongzhong off.

Gao Hongzhong said urgently, "Please, my lord, allow this humble one to explain."

"No need. I understand your meaning. If you want to keep that head of yours, say no more. This official would rather ask: was this peace-talk idea yours, or did Huang Taiji arrange it for you?"

"This… it was this humble one who suggested it to the Great Khan. Though this humble one does not understand marching and warfare, I could still see that the Dengzhou garrison's fighting strength is matchless, beyond any ordinary Ming garrison. This matter is like viewing a leopard through a tube: if the army is like this, then Lord Chen must be an extraordinary man who does extraordinary things. Thus I boldly speculated on my lord's mind. This humble one proposed this for the benefit of both my lord and my master."

Chen Xin rubbed his nose and smiled. "This official does not wish to spend effort laying his heart bare to you, sir. But, Master Gao, this official will also offer you a suggestion. For you, sir, to have survived the near-certain death of Liaodong and risen to high office among the Later Jin Han officials — you too are an extraordinary man. This official does not wish to ask much about past matters, but I can help you imagine future ones. How can one allow another to sleep soundly beside one's own couch? Even if today I do not fight your master, a battle in Liaodong is unavoidable in the end. Worldly affairs are also a gambling table. If Master Gao is truly clever, you might as well place an extra bet. You need not do anything difficult — just send a report of Later Jin movements to this Lord Zhou once a month. Sometimes, straddling two boats makes it easy to fall into the water; at other times, it makes it easier to save your life. Placing an extra bet does no harm — whether the pot goes big or small, you can still scoop up something, no?"

………

That day, the Dengzhou garrison again sent out cavalry to press close to the Later Jin main camp. Some squads climbed the northern hills and observed the main road from Lüshun to Jinzhou from the hilltops. The Later Jin troops sent cavalry to meet them and dispatched a group of White Armor Soldiers into the hills to contest the high ground with the Dengzhou troops. Two thousand cavalry escorted bondservants as they withdrew toward Muchang Post Station. The baggage they carried was lighter than when they had come. The most serious loss in military equipment was seven Hongyi cannons — all "Heaven-Blessed Might-Assisting Great Generals" — abandoned at the earthen wall.

The Later Jin troops maintained their cavalry superiority, with their main force still remaining north of Lüshun. The Later Jin camp controlled the passable official road, and the Dengzhou cavalry could not bypass the main camp. The Dengzhou garrison kept a death grip on them, watching only for when their main force would move. No matter how the Later Jin troops deployed their forces, once the main army began to move, its marching column would always stretch out, there would always be those left at the rear, and both formation and psychology would be fragile.

Only after nightfall did an Intelligence Bureau squad, under cover of darkness, escort Gao Hongzhong away. Four li from the Later Jin camp, they encountered Later Jin ambush troops. It seemed the Later Jin army, fearing the Dengzhou fire arrows, had sent out ambush troops early.

Gao Hongzhong shouted loudly to identify himself. The Intelligence Bureau squad immediately withdrew. Whether Gao Hongzhong ultimately returned safely was no longer their concern.

Gao Hongzhong exhausted his eloquence before he convinced the ambush troops, and two armored soldiers escorted him back to camp. Along the way they encountered many White Armor Soldiers, among them a Bayara Ejen of the Bordered Yellow Banner. That day, the Later Jin had also sent heavy troops to wait in the field, intending to deal with those arrogant Dengzhou troops from the previous night.

Not long after Gao Hongzhong passed, the wilderness erupted with shouts of killing. Arrows and lead bullets whistled as they brought death. That Bayara Ejen knew Gao Hongzhong and directly sent men to lead him to Huang Taiji's main camp. Huang Taiji's camp was farther north. This night journey covered seven or eight li. The first half he was practically carried along by the Intelligence Bureau men; the latter half he was supported by several armored soldiers. Gao Hongzhong fell countless times along the way, but he finally returned alive to the embrace of the Later Jin. Looking back on the day's experiences, it felt as if he had lived two lifetimes.

Huang Taiji had long since grown impatient. Hearing that Gao Hongzhong had returned, he hastily summoned him into the tent and told him to sit and speak.

Gao Hongzhong dropped to his knees at once. "Great Khan, that Chen Xin is exceedingly treacherous. The moment I arrived, he beheaded several of your slave's subordinates, saying he would take them to present to the Ming Emperor as proof. Your slave could not stop him. I have disgraced the Great Khan's face. I beg the Great Khan to pronounce punishment."

Huang Taiji did not care much about a few Han officials; indeed, it was within his expectations. Huang Taiji had once spoken at length with Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng, carefully sorting through the Dengzhou rebellion from beginning to end. His understanding of Chen Xin's conduct and style ran deeper than Kong Youde's. Kong Youde only suspected that Chen Xin had premeditated it, but Huang Taiji was certain. The key point was that man Wang Bingzhong, and the later news was that Wang Bingzhong had died at Geng Zhongming's hands. From this, Huang Taiji judged that Chen Xin's style was to plan thoroughly before acting, to kill decisively, and to prefer using others' hands, while feigning loyalty before the imperial court. From the methods Li Yongfang had learned about how Chen Xin dealt with the gentry, one could also tell he was the type who valued practical gain more — between fame and profit, he chose profit over fame, and he had never taken the gentry and licentiates seriously. It was already good enough that Gao Hongzhong had returned with his life; at the very least, it showed that Chen Xin was still willing to maintain private contact. The deaths of a few Han licentiates meant nothing. As for the humiliation, the situation was unfavorable, and this was no time to quibble.

"What did Chen Xin have to say?"

"He does not recognize our Great Jin as an equal state, calling it only the Jianzhou rebel army, and that temporarily occupying Liaodong does not permit calling it a state."

Huang Taiji said flatly, "The same platitudes from those Ming civil officials. Every time peace talks touch on this, it leads nowhere. Is Chen Xin, a military officer, also going to quibble over such formalities?"

Gao Hongzhong lowered his head and said, "He simply forbade your slave from speaking. Later, when your slave said it was the Great Khan bringing a private message to him, he took the step down. Your slave seized the chance to raise the conditions — the several points the Great Khan mentioned. On the peace talks, Chen Xin neither refused nor agreed, only saying that your slave's words were all empty talk, and that if we withdraw, we must withdraw past Fuzhou and Xiuyan. On the western side, the boundary would be Yulinpu between Fuzhou and Gaizhou, with no troops stationed within twenty li north or south. On the eastern side, we must not go past Fenghuang City."

Huang Taiji laughed. Now these sounded like conditions Chen Xin would propose. He asked Gao Hongzhong, "And how did you reply?"

"Your slave said he must discuss it with the Great Khan. Chen Xin also brought up the matter of Korea. He now seems to have close ties with Korea and demands that the Great Khan not send troops to threaten Korea, though trade may be permitted."

Huang Taiji waved his hand to cut him off. These terms, back and forth, were in truth only temporary measures with no room for real implementation. Such a private agreement could also be torn up at any time with a pretext. He said to Gao Hongzhong, "Tell me the most important clause."

"Chen Xin wants a Banner Lord. If the Banner Lord's head is delivered, he will no longer pursue and attack our Later Jin army, and he promises not to go north of Fuzhou on his own initiative in the future. If our Great Jin enters the passes, the Dengzhou garrison will make a feint past Fuzhou, and each time the Great Khan must give him three hundred bondservant heads."

Huang Taiji narrowed his eyes after hearing this. Gao Hongzhong waited for Huang Taiji's reply. Outside, the night raid was raging fiercely. That sharp, shrieking whistle sounded again, followed by explosions, and panicked shouts broke out in the camp.

The explosions were still some distance from the central camp. Huang Taiji sat motionless in his chair. The tent flap stirred, and Sonin hurried in. He said to Huang Taiji in a low voice, "Great Khan, those Nikan are firing large rockets from west of the Lüshun River. Our night-raid defense troops are all on the east bank and can no longer stop them. I beg the Great Khan to take shelter for a while."

Huang Taiji shook his head slightly, then stood and paced back and forth in the tent. After a moment, he stopped and asked Sonin, "How many more days for Yoto's side?"

"Two days' work."

Huang Taiji turned to Gao Hongzhong and said, "Before daybreak, beloved minister Gao, go once more. Say that We agree."

After Gao Hongzhong withdrew, Sonin said to Huang Taiji in a low voice, "Great Khan, not one word of Chen Xin's is credible. Everything he proposed is utterly unreasonable."

"We know. We will not give him any benefit at all. Chen Xin has won a small victory at Lüshun; his army's morale is at its peak. When a man is drunk on success, his actions are naturally perverse. First, steady him for two days, let him be smug for a few days. Once he passes the southern pass, let us see how that bit of cavalry of his can pursue and attack anything." (To be continued…)