Chapter 472: The Fujin

Beneath the night sky, Shenyang lay under a low, dark canopy that blanketed the land — as black and heavy as the Later Jin's barbaric rule, so heavy that no one knew when light would ever come.

After the Later Jin seized central Liaodong, their capital was first at Liaoyang, the seat of the Liaodong Regional Military Commission, but that lay closer to the southern mountains; for the Later Jin of that time, Shenyang's position was better. Now Shenyang had been expanded with an outer wall and had become the core of this primitive regime.

A stretch of great mansions near the south gate of the inner city housed many Later Jin nobles. After this gang of mountain bandits had snatched the lands of central Liaodong, these slave-owners began to yearn for a life of luxury. Fortunately, Nurhaci had always maintained a harsh, frugal style and never led them into corruption, so the nobles could only pull a few petty tricks in private. Once Nurhaci dropped dead, the Later Jin banner lords lost the one man they feared most and one after another threw themselves into pleasure-seeking. Besides smuggling, they also plundered the niru under their own command. The Later Jin's wealth rapidly concentrated in the hands of the nobles, while the lower ranks of the Later Jin grew ever more destitute. Had there not been an even weaker Great Ming to plunder, the Later Jin would long since have played itself to death. By this point, the nobles' extravagance had taken every conceivable form — artificial mountains and garden courtyards were nothing new — and now they competed over opera troupes and singing girls. Huang Taiji had once furiously denounced certain nobles who smuggled in actors from the south.

But Huang Taiji's prestige was still far from the level it would reach in history, so the smuggling continued. Moreover, with Manggūltai leading the opposition against Huang Taiji, many people paid no heed to the Khan's decrees, and every night the sound of opera singing could be heard everywhere.

Tonight, however, the whole area was silent. The storm in the Plain Blue Banner had not yet subsided, and every faction was watching the situation. Dorgon and Dodo had both gone to the territory of the Two White Banners and were not staying in Shenyang. Daišan had also made an excuse to go hunting and left for the Plain Red Banner's military fort. Yue Tuo, Jirgalang, the gūsa ejen of each banner, and others all kept their gates shut and stayed obediently at home, and no one dared listen to opera.

Only from one large compound came the faint sound of a woman weeping. This compound, with its carved beams and painted rafters, was exquisitely beautiful, like a Jiangnan garden. It was the residence of Beile Haoge.

At that moment, Haoge was sitting in his lavish main hall, looking expressionlessly at a woman weeping on the floor.

The woman before him was Mangguuji's second daughter — Haoge's own Fujin.

The Fujin had two silver rings threaded through her nose, just like any ordinary Jurchen woman of the time. Weeping as she spoke, she said, "I beg the Beile to go and speak with the Great Khan. My mother would never do such a rebellious thing. It's all that Leng Sengji's wild talk. My mother has a fiery temper, but she would never go so far as rebellion…"

Haoge kept his eyes fixed on the latticework and replied absently, "She conspired with Manggūltai. They found a shaman from the Khalkha and made straw effigies in their home, cursing the Great Khan to die of sudden illness. Leng Sengji went to the Ministry of Justice and beat the drum to lodge an accusation. Then he took Jirgalang to Manggūltai's residence and found the crown and the Khan's robes. Your mother's man, Sonome, also confessed and identified Mangguuji as colluding with Manggūltai, Degelei, Fiyanggū, Anggala, and over thirty others in a plot to rebel. More than three hundred people from the Plain Blue Banner are implicated. There is no wrongful accusation against her."

The Fujin froze. She scrambled forward on all fours and clutched Haoge's legs. "How can there be so many people? My mother would never do such a thing. Why drag so many others into it? Go and beg the Great Khan."

"How am I supposed to beg?" Haoge lowered his head and met the Fujin's terrified eyes. "I am also one of those implicated."

Under Haoge's cold stare, the Fujin stammered, "Wh-… why? Ah!"

The Fujin suddenly felt something icy enter her abdomen. She let out a terrified scream, and just as she was about to struggle, Haoge's left arm shot out and clamped around her neck, while his leg twisted around her waist. Haoge was tall and powerfully built, his strength overwhelming. The Fujin was pinned motionless in his deadly grip.

A searing pain struck her. The Fujin's contorted face was a mask of terror. Both her hands grasped Haoge's right hand, which held the knife below. "I… I…"

Staring into the Fujin's face, Haoge said slowly, "I am also one of those implicated. So I cannot save your mother, and even less can I save you. I can only wrong you. Do not blame me. Your mother Mangguuji is sentenced to death by slow slicing. For you to depart this way is already a mercy."

As he spoke, Haoge slowly drew out the short blade. Blood gushed along the fuller. The Fujin coughed up mouthful after mouthful of fresh blood, her lips murmuring brokenly, "No… no…"

Blood soaked Haoge's trousers completely. The Fujin moaned softly and slowly closed her eyes. Haoge gazed at the Fujin's face, a trace of sorrow flickering in his eyes. The short blade was finally pulled all the way out. Haoge listlessly tossed the knife aside. It clattered to the floor. The Fujin's body slumped limply backward onto the ground. Blood flowed from her waist and pooled on the floor into a small pond.

Haoge stared at the woman on the floor for a long while, then slowly sat down on the ground, covered his head, and curled into a ball.

……

"Degelei is dead. Huang Taiji even pinned a charge of rebellion on him. Executed at the same time were Manggūltai's three sons, Manggūltai's half-brother Anggala, and the old chieftain's youngest son, the sixteenth son Fiyanggū. Even though the Plain Blue Banner had already been battered by us to the point of exhaustion, Huang Taiji still executed three hundred of its people."

Inside the Dengzhou Regional Commander's residence, Chen Xin finished speaking and handed the Intelligence Division's report to Liu Minyou. Huang Taiji was indeed using thunderous measures to consolidate the Eight Banners, though the Plain Blue Banner was far weaker than in history — originally Huang Taiji had executed over a thousand people; this time it was only three hundred.

After reading it, Liu Minyou sighed and said, "Huang Taiji has broken the old rules. The households and property of the Eight Banners have always been transferred among direct lines. Even when a banner assignment changed, the niru followed their master. This time, in order to swallow the Plain Blue Banner, Huang Taiji not only killed the youngest Fiyanggū but also wiped out Manggūltai's entire line, clearing a place for Haoge."

"This is a true uprooting. Huang Taiji is indeed an extraordinary man."

Chen Xin asked with some curiosity, "Then did he also kill that sister of his, Mangguuji?"

"Naturally. Mangguuji was executed by slow slicing. The charge of rebellion against Mangguuji was firmly established, because there was not only Leng Sengji's accusation but also testimony from her own husband."

Liu Minyou closed his eyes and said, "Put that way, Mangguuji is pitiable. Her own household slave denounced her, her own husband served as a tainted witness, her younger brother was killed, her older brother died a cruel death, her daughter was also killed, and in the end Huang Taiji still had her sliced to death. But in truth, she was utterly incapable of rebellion. She was merely the pretext Huang Taiji used to consolidate the Plain Blue Banner."

Zhou Shifa added from the side, "This Leng Sengji was Mangguuji's bondservant. He came forward and denounced Degelei, claiming that because Haoge had not gone to retrieve Manggūltai's corpse, Degelei harbored resentment against Haoge and colluded with various people in the Plain Blue Banner to plot rebellion, with Mangguuji acting as the go-between. Mangguuji's husband was originally Wurgudai of the Mongol Hada tribe — that's why Mangguuji was also called Princess Daha. After Wurgudai died, Huang Taiji married her off to Sonome Düüreng of the Mongol Aohan tribe. After Leng Sengji's accusation this time, Sonome Düüreng, to save his own life, also came forward to testify against Mangguuji. Among the Jianzhou bandits there is no human feeling or family bond whatsoever — no different from wild beasts."

Chen Xin smiled at Zhou Shifa. "Do you think Degelei would have actually carried out this rebellion?"

"This subordinate thinks not. The Plain Blue Banner was dealt a heavy blow by our army at Zhubokou. The elite troops under Manggūltai and Tobohui were utterly lost. In terms of White Armor Soldiers and armored cavalry, the Plain Blue Banner has already lost half its strength. No matter how dissatisfied Degelei was with Haoge, he would never have used this shattered Plain Blue Banner to directly clash with the Two Yellow Banners. It was simply Huang Taiji's way of intimidating the Eight Banners, and conveniently swallowing the Plain Blue Banner in the process."

"Degelei was captured that day. Two days later he died of sudden illness. On the third day they arrested the other Plain Blue Banner nobles. Huang Taiji is certainly impatient — why make his greed look so ugly?" Chen Xin pursed his lips. "The Plain Blue Banner had twenty-some niru. After being repeatedly hammered by us, the surviving armored soldiers and reserve males amount to no more than fifteen hundred, many of them only recently promoted and not battle-hardened elites. Yet Huang Taiji still had to swallow them so shamelessly."

Zhou Shifa said in a low voice, "Then, should we activate a few of our lines inside the Later Jin to stir things up, so Huang Taiji doesn't swallow them too easily?"

Chen Xin thought over the Later Jin's affairs and shook his head. "Don't move those lines. They're of no use for now. We can't figure out these chieftains' affairs. We truly don't understand the world of savages."

Zhou Shifa chuckled. "It really is so. Mangguuji had another daughter married to Haoge — she's Haoge's mother-in-law. Do you two lords know what Haoge did?"

Liu Minyou guessed, "He seized his wife and threw her into prison."

"Lord Liu is kind-hearted. Haoge simply killed this Fujin outright. It's said he even did it with his own hands. Then he himself became the banner lord of the Plain Blue Banner."

Liu Minyou said angrily, "Truly shameless."

Chen Xin waved his hand. "Perhaps Huang Taiji forced him to do it. This was a critical step for Huang Taiji; he could not allow Haoge any hesitation. Were any other important people implicated?"

"There's also that Yue Tuo. He also has a Fujin who is Mangguuji's eldest daughter. Yue Tuo still has some human decency, and considerable courage. He couldn't bear to kill his own Fujin, so he thought of a way to force Huang Taiji to swallow a bitter loss in silence."

Liu Minyou asked curiously, "What way could he think of?"

Zhou Shifa beside him said in a low voice, "Yue Tuo did not lay a hand on his own woman. Instead, he submitted a memorial to Huang Taiji, saying that since Haoge had killed his Fujin, he too intended to kill his own Fujin. Huang Taiji, as Khan of the Later Jin, had to put on a show of compassion and issued an edict forbidding Yue Tuo from killing his Fujin. Thus the Fujin survived."

Chen Xin clapped his hands. "Bold. But from then on, Yue Tuo was no longer part of Huang Taiji's inner circle. Whether it was because his conscience was not yet extinguished or because he was defending Manggūltai, keeping a mortal enemy of Huang Taiji in his home is tantamount to opposing Huang Taiji. He… may not come to a good end in the future."

Zhou Shifa flipped through a few other intelligence reports in his hands, then said to the two men, "There's something even more despicable. This time Huang Taiji also pinned the charge of rebellion on Manggūltai, and then distributed Manggūltai's wives and concubines to Haoge and Yue Tuo, intending them as compensation for the two men killing their wives…"

Liu Minyou hurriedly stood up and cut him off. "Zhou Shifa, stop. I can't listen to this. I'm going back to the Civil Affairs Department. When it's time to set out, Commander Chen, call for me again."

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